Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent steps his Department has taken to help support prisoners reintegrate into society.

Effective resettlement of prison leavers is a core part of our efforts to reduce re-offending. This includes making sure someone has a home, family links where appropriate, access to healthcare, a job or further education, and/or access to benefits.

We know that employment reduces the chance of reoffending significantly, by up to nine percentage points. The proportion of prisoners released from custody employed at six months rose by almost two thirds between April 2021 and March 2022. That is an increase of nine percentage points, from 14% to 23%.

We also know that supporting prisoners to tackle addictions is important to reduce reoffending. MoJ is investing up to £120m to support more offenders into treatment – including increasing the number of Incentivised Substance Free Living units to up to 100, and establishing up to 18 new, abstinence-only Drug Recovery Wings.

Our temporary accommodation service is designed to ensure that prison leavers at risk of homelessness have a stable base on release, improving their opportunities for employment.

The introduction of Resettlement Passports will bring together the key information and services that are needed to resettle in the community, such as bank accounts, CVs and identity documents to prove the right to work and rent.