Offenders (Day of Release from Detention) Bill

Siobhan Baillie Excerpts

Committee stage
Wednesday 8th February 2023 Public Bill Committees

[Mark Jenkinson (Workington) (Con)]

I am delighted to serve under your chairmanship today, Mr Vickers— I apologise if I lose my voice part way through the sitting—and to commend this Bill to the Committee for scrutiny on behalf of my Conservative colleague and fellow Cumbrian MP, my hon. Friend the Member for Barrow and Furness (Simon Fell), whose private Member’s Bill it is. Unfortunately, he is unable to be here because this sitting clashes with a Select Committee visit, which I am sure is not as exciting. I am honoured to step into the breach, although I know my hon. Friend is looking forward to picking up the reins for Third Reading on his return.

This is a particular pleasure because I introduced the Bill to the House after being drawn in the ballot, before entrusting it to the safe hands of my hon. Friend when I entered Government for a short period, so I have some knowledge of this excellent piece of legislation and understand just how important it is to cut reoffending rates and to protect the wider public.

For many offenders, accessing timely support on release can be particularly challenging on a Friday. The Bill will provide a chance for these individuals to turn their backs on crime for good by removing the practical challenges that would otherwise be presented by a weekend release. Those who need to access support services such as local authority housing and mental health services before they close for the day can face a race against the clock. By removing such barriers, we can ensure that prison leavers have a better chance to access the support they need to reintegrate into the community, so that victims and the public are better protected in the long term.

Clause 1 forms the main part of the Bill. It ensures that offenders no longer need to be released on a Friday or the day before a bank holiday. It effectively provides the Secretary of State for Justice with a discretionary power to bring forward their release date by up to two eligible working days. This means that offenders can be released earlier in the week, making it easier for them to find accommodation or access medication and support before services close for the weekend.

Clause 2 stops clause 1 applying to offenders who are currently held in the UK and have been convicted of war crimes or similar by the International Criminal Court. It is a necessary part of the Bill. The UK has a treaty obligation to enforce the full duration of International Criminal Court sentences and not to modify them, and the clause will ensure that we continue to do that. Changing the sentences of those offenders would place the UK in breach of a treaty obligation.

Clause 3 simply confirms the Bill’s short title, makes provision for the Bill to come into force by regulations and provides that clause 1 will extend to England and Wales only, as offender management is devolved in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Clauses 2 and 3 do extend to Northern Ireland, due to clause 2 making an amendment to the International Criminal Court Act 2001.

The Bill is a proportionate response to the issues caused for offenders by Friday releases under current policy and will help Government efforts to cut crime. By removing the barriers that a Friday release can create, public protection can be maintained by ensuring that custody leavers have a better chance to access the support they need to adjust to life outside prison. This will ultimately result in fewer victims and less crime.

The Bill applies to adults and children sentenced to detention and will ensure that the provisions relating to Friday, bank holiday and weekend releases apply in respect of all youth settings, including the recently created secure 16-to-19 academies. That is only right. Despite the various safeguards and legal duties that exist for children leaving custody, being released on a Friday still means that a child goes for at least two days with no meaningful contact with their supervising officer, when in some cases they are at their most vulnerable. In practical terms, it will be for a prison governor, director or appropriate equivalent official in a youth establishment to apply the power to bring forward an individual’s release date, supported by policy guidance.

I thank Governor Sean Ormerod, and the team at His Majesty’s Prison Holme House, who spent so much time with me showing me the good work that they do in the field of offender rehabilitation. They gave me the benefit of their experience when the Bill was in its infancy.

Around one in three offenders leaves jail on a Friday—a symptom of already bringing forward weekend releases—and they often struggle to sort out accommodation, register with a GP and sign up for job support in such a narrow timeframe. In the first 24 hours after release, a prisoner is expected to meet the probation officer, submit a claim for universal credit and, if homeless, contact their local housing authority to sort out emergency accommodation. Trying to get that done late in the afternoon on the Friday of a bank holiday weekend is challenging, to say the least. It also creates an entirely avoidable bottleneck, heaping pressure on offender managers, housing services and the full range of local services.

Fridays are busy days for prisons, as staff are needed to prepare prisoners for court. At the same time, a higher number of people are released later in the day. That leaves a very narrow timeframe for offenders to present to services before the weekend. The issues are compounded by the fact that some of the most important housing-resettlement agencies run reduced services on Fridays, close early and run few or even no services over the weekend.

This is not just about the welfare of offenders: there are clear issues for prison staff, local service provision and the safety of the wider community. Adult offenders without stable accommodation are almost 50% more likely to reoffend when released. It should go without saying that having a place to stay is important in helping offenders to access employment and training opportunities that may support their rehabilitation. About 80% of crimes committed by reoffenders and repeat offenders cost taxpayers £18 billion a year.

We must ensure that criminals get robust sentences, and the victims of crime rightly demand that justice is served, but research shows that the release date can make a difference of up to 5% in the likelihood in reoffending: 35% of those freed on a Monday reconvict within a year, compared with 40% of those released on a Friday. More crime means more victims. Many of those instances of reoffending represent lost opportunities to reform criminals with the capacity to change.

The Bill is designed to take into account the offender’s personal circumstances and ensure that public protection is maintained at all times. We are not talking about dangerous or high-risk offenders, and there will be strict security screening of eligible prisoners; rather, it is aimed at helping vulnerable individuals with complex needs who may need a bit of extra help to make a full return to their communities.

[Siobhan Baillie (Stroud) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend and my hon. Friend the Member for Barrow and Furness on bringing this Bill to the House. A few years ago, Lord Farmer and Dr Samantha Callan did some work on strengthening family ties that showed that when prisoners maintain their relationship with their families, there is a significant reduction in reoffending. This Bill is one of those things about which we say, “Of course, this should happen.” There should be an organised release from prison so that offenders are not thrown into a weekend with no support. If they come out mid-week and their first organised, precious, important contact with their family goes well, that can assist in reducing reoffending. That is why this Bill, which is a completely common-sense change, is important not just for the prisoner but for their wider family and society.

[Mark Jenkinson]

I thank my hon. Friend for her support. She makes a really important point about the strength of families and the support that prisoners need to make a full and meaningful return to family and community life, which would reduce the risk of reoffending.

Offenders leaving prison need access to a broad range of resettlement services, in addition to mandatory probation appointments. Because they cannot submit claims for benefits while serving a custodial sentence, they have no choice but to do so on their release. Not having ID or a bank account can lead to additional appointments, creating yet further delay. If efforts to rehabilitate prisoners are to have any chance of success, we should be removing obstacles, not setting people up to fail. It is in everybody’s interest to give offenders the support they need to contribute positively to our communities; they must not find themselves straight back behind bars following a cliff edge release.

Offenders released on a Friday are aware that any issues are unlikely to be addressed. Anecdotally, I know of examples of offenders breaking into abandoned buildings upon finding the council offices closed and the housing officers gone for the day, or no spaces at the night shelter. Without making excuses for such behaviour, it is not difficult to see how an individual facing the prospect of sleeping rough might be tempted to reoffend, if only to secure a roof over their head.

Adult offenders released on a Friday from sentences of less than 12 months have a slightly higher rate of reoffending within two weeks of release—14.8%—than those released on other days of the week, whose average reoffending rate is just over 13%, but issues also exist for younger people, with 15% of those detained being held more than 100 miles from their home, and 41% more than 50 miles away. Inevitably, that is hugely detrimental to vulnerable offenders with complex needs who require greater support.

The Bill will ensure that the same release provisions relate to public holiday and weekend releases in respect of secure children’s homes and the recently created secure academies, just as for young offender institutions and secure training centres. I commend the Bill to the Committee for further scrutiny.