Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to publish the results of the 2021 consultation on the fur market in Great Britain.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In the Action Plan for Animal Welfare, Defra committed to explore potential action in relation to the import of fur from abroad. The Call for Evidence Defra published in 2021 was a key step in delivering that commitment. A summary of replies received should be published in due course.
In the meantime, we are continuing to build our evidence base on the fur sector, which will be used to inform any future action on the fur trade. We have also commissioned a report from our expert Animal Welfare Committee into the issue of what constitutes responsible sourcing in the fur industry. This report will support our understanding of the fur industry and help to inform our next steps.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that support provided to prison leavers to secure available housing and potential job opportunities is coordinated.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Effective resettlement of prison leavers is a core part of our efforts to reduce re-offending. This includes making sure someone has a home and access to employment.
Community Probation Practitioners coordinate the overall rehabilitation of an offender, supported by Pre-Release Teams who provide immediate resettlement and pre-release support for all people in prison, including for accommodation and employment. This coordination continues once the individual has left prison for the duration of their license period.
In prisons, we have rolled out Employment Hubs where Prison Employment Leads work alongside DWP Prison Work Coaches to provide a joined-up approach to preparing for employment. Accommodation support and assistance includes completion of accommodation and housing benefit applications, and support and guidance to ensure continuation of an existing tenancy.
To further improve coordination and the overall offering we are introducing Resettlement Passports, which will bring together key information and services that an individual needs in one place to resettle into the community, such as bank accounts, CV’s and identity documents to prove the right to work and rent.
The proportion of prison leavers who were employed six months after release has more than doubled in the two years to March 2023, from 14% to over 30%, and the proportion of prison leavers who were homeless or rough sleeping upon release decreased from 16% to 11%, between 2019-20 and 2022-23.