A proposal to establish a women’s criminal justice policy unit within the Ministry of Justice foundered yesterday after a vote on an amendment to the Legal Aid Sentencing and Criminal Justice Bill was tied.

Peers voted evenly, with 217 votes for and 217 against, on an amendment tabled by Labour’s Lady Corston to establish an MoJ unit to develop and implement a strategy for women entering the criminal justice system and those at risk of offending.

The unit, drawing on representatives from the Department of Health, Communities and Local Government department, Department for Work and Pensions, and the Home Office, would have ensured joined-up treatment of women offenders, Lady Corston said.

It would also have addressed issues such as employment, housing, mental health and support for families and children, with the aim of reducing the number of women in the criminal justice system and extending more support for community sentences.

The amendment drew on the 2007 Corston report, which called for strategic and structural changes to drive progress on the women's criminal justice agenda and address multiple and complex issues of women offenders and those at risk of offending.

At present, Corston said, the MoJ has two officials working on policy for women offenders. However ‘women who are at risk of offending do not come, and cannot come, on to its radar’. She said: ‘These women will again be lost, as will a real opportunity to tackle their vulnerabilities before they end up experiencing custody and the consequent damage which that entails to themselves, their families and, particularly, their children.’

She said a women's criminal justice policy unit would not need much, if any, new funding and would save money.

Supporting the amendment, Plaid Cymru peer Lord Wigley cited figures suggesting that 37% of women prisoners have attempted suicide, 51% have severe mental illness, 47% have a major depressive disorder, 50% have been subject to domestic violence and 33% to sexual abuse. He said: ‘Developing a specific strategy to ensure that women in the penal system receive more appropriate services is fundamental if these appalling statistics are to be improved.’

For the government, justice minister Lord McNally emphasised the importance of a ‘strategic and coherent’ policy on women at risk and those within the criminal justice system, but said the amendment was not necessary as its aims are already being delivered.

The bill will continue its report stage in the House of Lords on 27 March.