Prisons: Releasing Women into Safe and Secure Housing Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateLord Bishop of Leeds
Main Page: Lord Bishop of Leeds (Bishops - Bishops)Department Debates - View all Lord Bishop of Leeds's debates with the Ministry of Justice
(2 years, 5 months ago)
Lords ChamberI absolutely agree with that point. I have said from this Dispatch Box, on a number of areas, that data is absolutely critical. We need to ensure that we are looking at the same thing. I set out the legal definition of homelessness, and we publish statistics on this. I am pleased to say that there has been an improvement in the figures recently. The percentage of prison leavers recorded as either homeless or rough sleeping has fallen from 16% to 12%. We want to make that even better.
My Lords, Friday releases from prison, in particular, are hugely problematic. This is particularly the case for geographically dispersed women’s prisons, because women cannot travel home in time to make a housing application with their local authority before the office closes. Are the Government aware of this specific problem, and can they offer any solutions as to what can be done to overcome it?