Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps are being taken to ensure prison leavers have housing and health plans in place before release.

We are committed to ensuring that robust pre-release plans are created for those leaving custody, so that accommodation and health needs are identified early and the right support is put in place. Dedicated Pre-Release Teams in prisons work closely with individuals to identify immediate needs, coordinate referrals to relevant services, and support continuity between custody and the community.

To support continuity of care and swift access to treatment on release, we have recruited over 67 Health and Justice Partnership Coordinators who strengthen drug and alcohol recovery pathways by building partnerships between prison, probation and treatment providers and we are enabling virtual pre-release appointments with community treatment providers via secure laptops. The Probation Notification Actioning Project, now in place across all prisons, standardises how probation staff are informed of ongoing drug and alcohol treatment needs. NHS England’s RECONNECT service also supports prison leavers with identified health needs, to engage with the right health services in the community. Services work with people up to 12 weeks before release, and 6 months post-release.

In the National Plan to End Homelessness, the Government has committed to reduce the proportion of people released from prison homeless by 50% by the end of this parliament. 50 prison-based Strategic Housing Specialists across England and Wales work with probation teams and Local Authorities to enable a multi-agency approach to securing housing before release. We are also investing in integrating digital community accommodation services to make it easier to identify and match individuals to the right housing-related support at the right time.