To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to reduce the number of prisoners who leave prison homeless.
Answered on
7 January 2019
Nobody should be released from prison without a roof over their head. We know that individuals are less likely to reoffend if they have a stable home to go to upon release. That is why the Government has launched a £100 million initiative to reduce and ultimately eliminate rough sleeping across England. Through this work we will invest £6.4 million over two years in a pilot to support individuals who have served 12 months or less in custody, and who are at risk of being released as homeless, to secure and maintain accommodation.
Since 1 October, Prisons and Probation providers have been subject to a legal ‘Duty to Refer’ anyone who is homeless or at risk of becoming homeless to the Local Authority.
This change means that offenders will receive meaningful housing assistance at an earlier stage, irrespective of their priority need.
We also know that the support, provided by probation providers, to prepare individuals for release from prison is not meeting the standard we require. We have therefore taken decisive action to stabilise and improve the delivery of probation services. We are ending current Community Rehabilitation Company contracts early, while investing £22m per year to enhance the services that support individuals leaving prison and re-entering the community. We have introduced minimum standards so that all providers offer monthly face-to-face meetings with offenders during the first 12 months of supervision. This new service will commence from April 2019.