Early Release Prisoners: Preventing Homelessness and Rough Sleeping

Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone Excerpts

Thursday 16th July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone (Con)]

My Lords, I pay tribute to the many people who have spoken in the debate, with their direct and personal knowledge and commitment to this intractable issue: a subject that so often people do not want to know about. Above all, I pay tribute to the noble Lord for his steadfast and long-term commitment to people in prison, their relationships and their families, because so many relationships break down when someone goes to prison, and then the prospect of finding a home or work when they come out is all the less. I am only saying the obvious, but it needs to be repeated.

No one should complete a prison sentence, step outside and find the pavement waiting; we all agree that a prison sentence must never become a sentence to homelessness. But delivering that aspiration in practice is an intractable and complex problem. Partnership between prisons, probation and local housing authorities is essential, but it is not sufficient. The voluntary sector plays a vital role. So many of us are going to refer to different voluntary sector projects. The Clink is quite remarkable, and I must quickly declare my interest as I think my firm once found one of the chief executives, and I got to know them extremely well. The voluntary sector can act flexibly and swiftly to provide innovative solutions. The voluntary sector can sometimes take steps that are unpopular with the public, whom, if you are an elected body, you have unfortunately to satisfy.

The official figures should disturb us profoundly. In the year to March, only 84% of prison leavers were housed the night following their release. Nacro calculates that more than 12,000 people a year leave prison homeless or are rough sleeping, which is more than 1,000 people every month. Of course they are not just statistics; they are people leaving custody, frequently with little money, addiction, medical vulnerabilities, fragile or non-existent family relationships and no place to go.

I appreciate that the Government have said much to suggest that they are signed up to this agenda. We are all realistic about the pressure on public funding and the difficulty of taking the public with us, and I am sure nobody more than the Minister fights the corner in private, whatever he can say to us in public.

I wonder when the Minister will feel able to publish specific accommodation and reoffending outcomes for prisoners released early. This, of course, is an extra complicating factor. The comment about not releasing people on a Friday is so often said, but when will it be delivered? A form passed from one public body to another does not, I am afraid, keep somebody off the streets. Practical steps have to follow. The Inspectorate of Prisons reports that many establishments still release 20% to 30% of prisoners without a settled address, and the independent monitoring boards describe release preparation as “alarmingly inadequate”. What further reassurance can the Minister give us that there will be improvement in this field?

Homeless Link, another voluntary body working directly with people experiencing homelessness, offers practical answers—I always like those. They are: first, assume that every prisoner is at risk of homelessness until demonstrated otherwise; secondly, begin planning early; thirdly, complete housing applications inside prisons; fourthly, bring all the relevant agencies together before release. But more must be done, and I want to commend to the Minister a charity that I have come to know very well.

The issue for many is that when they finish the 84-night statutory stay, there is a critical window. If the prison leaver cannot overcome practical financial barriers, they may still leave temporary accommodation for the street. Small grants released quickly for deposits, identification documents, essential furniture or travel can make all the difference. I wonder how many people in this House know about Greater Change. Does anybody? Greater Change is a thrilling, pioneering charity started by Jonathan Tan when he left Oxford 10 years ago. It provides small grants through the care workers to help prisoners and others at risk of homelessness, and it is obsessively evidence based. It is quite remarkable. When I first heard of this charity, I thought: “That is exactly what needs to be done”, because it reinforces the value of the trusted front-line worker who assesses whether the individual is worthy of the project or can justify it, and then it raises the money to provide these grants.

Greater Change is currently proposing a £10 million programme that would enable personalised budgets to support more than 5,500 people leaving custody. It would evaluate housing stability, progression from CAS3 into settled accommodation, engagement with probation, employment outcomes, reoffending and savings across the criminal justice system. I do not want to test the Minister’s patience, because he has very kindly met MM McCabe from Philosophy in Prison, but I really hope he will find a chance to meet the team from Greater Change, who are as good as those at Emmaus and the Forward Trust. We all need to work together to deliver this agenda.