Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the number of prisoners who were homeless prior to imprisonment in the latest period for which figures are available.

We recognise that it is vital that everyone leaving prison has somewhere stable and secure to live. Having somewhere stable to live acts as a platform for offenders to be able to access the services and support needed to stop their cycle of offending for good.

There was a total of 28,555 prisoners who declared they were of No Fixed Abode prior to their imprisonment in the last quarter of 2018. This information is provided by offenders during their reception into custody, and forms part of the Basic Custody Screening Tool.

The Government published its Rough Sleeping Strategy in August 2018, launching a £100 million initiative to reduce and ultimately eliminate rough sleeping across England. As part of this strategy, MoJ and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), will invest approximately £6.4 million over two years in a pilot scheme to help ex-offenders secure suitable accommodation from three prisons, namely HMPs Pentonville, Bristol and Leeds. The pilots will focus on male prisoners who have served shorter sentences, who have been identified as having a risk of homelessness.