Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what lessons he has learnt from the implementation of his Department’s accommodation support scheme for prison leavers.

Everyone leaving prison should have somewhere safe and secure to live; accommodation enables offenders to hold down a job and reduces the likelihood of them reoffending.

As part of its response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Justice secured £8.5 million to support individuals at risk of homelessness on their release from prison and help them to move on into permanent accommodation. The scheme ran between 18^th May and 31^st August and provided up to 56 nights’ accommodation meaning some prison leavers can be accommodated up until the 26^th October. While it was designed as an emergency, temporary response to support prison leavers at risk of homelessness during the pandemic, the department is keen to develop longer-term improvements. We will review the scheme over the coming months and use those lessons as we develop and roll out our wider reforms to probation services over the coming year.

As part of its COVID-19 response, Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) set up seven Homelessness Prevention Taskforces to work with local authorities and other partners to find accommodation for offenders released from prison; these taskforces are still active. While we are currently reviewing the operation of these taskforces, the operational benefits of the taskforces are such that we are considering how to continue them in the long-term.