Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by St Martin in the Fields, London Prisons Mission and Prison Reform Trust Safe Homes for Women Leaving Prison, published in October 2020; and what steps they intend to take in response.

We welcome the findings from the Safe Homes for Women Leaving Prison report. Our Prisons Strategy White Paper sets out our vision that no-one subject to probation supervision, including female offenders, is released from prison homeless.

To achieve this, HM Prison and Probation Service launched a new transitional accommodation service providing up to 12 weeks’ accommodation and support for those leaving prison at risk of homelessness. The service was initially launched last July in five probation areas in England. From 2024-5, we will invest £200m per year to transform our approach to rehabilitation. This includes expanding the transitional accommodation service across England and Wales to support the thousands of people who leave prison each year without accommodation and provide improved access to employment support through rolling out dedicated employment leads in all resettlement prisons, as announced in the Prison Strategy White Paper published in December 2021.

The transitional accommodation takes account of the needs of women, including those with complex needs, with accommodation provision dedicated to single gender usage as required.