Prisoners' Release: Homelessness

Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of prison leavers were homeless in each year since 2010.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Data on accommodation outcomes on the first night of release from custody is published in the Community Performance Annual Statistics. Data is only available from 2017/18 onwards. From this point, accommodation performance metrics were introduced to the probation performance framework with reliable data not available for previous years. The data can be found here: Prison and Probation Performance Statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

We are delivering our ground-breaking transitional accommodation service, known as Community Accommodation Service – Tier 3 (CAS-3), so prison-leavers have a guaranteed 12 weeks of basic, temporary accommodation to provide a stable base on release. By January 2023, the proportion of offenders housed on the first night of their release from custody was 7.6 percentage points higher in CAS3 regions versus non-CAS3 regions.

Oral Evidence Apr. 17 2024

Found: take prisoners from.

Prisoners' Release: Housing

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the (a) number of housing placements available for prisoners on early release and (b) potential impact of the early release scheme on social housing waiting lists.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is committed to preventing homelessness and works closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and the Welsh Government to do so. Prisons and probation have a statutory duty to refer someone at risk of homelessness to a local authority for assistance, and we have worked closely with DLUHC on the design and delivery of their Accommodation for Ex-Offenders scheme. We have set up a Cross-Whitehall Accommodation Board, attended by officials from MoJ, HMPPS, Welsh Government and DLUHC, to ensure collaboration across policy and operational areas.

In July 2021, we launched our groundbreaking Community Accommodation Service Tier-3, to guarantee up to 12-weeks temporary accommodation to prison leavers subject to probation supervision who are at risk of homelessness on release, including those released under the End of Custody Supervised Licence measure. From July 2023 the service was expanded across all probation regions in England and Wales and continues to bring new beds online as the service embeds.

In 2022-23, 86% of prison leavers were in accommodation on their first night of release from custody.

Written Evidence Apr. 09 2024

Found: The proposal to transfer prisoners from England and Wales to foreign prisons abdicates government

Mar. 21 2024

Found: said he would wel come the review considering: ‘Improving the balance in communications and the release

Mar. 21 2024

Found: on Licence for Foreign National Prisoners Pending Deportation

Mar. 21 2024

Found: on Licence for Foreign National Prisoners Pending Deportation

Prisoners' Release: Temporary Accommodation

Asked by: Simon Fell (Conservative - Barrow and Furness)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what performance measures his Department uses to measure the success of transitional accommodation for prison leavers.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Prison leavers without settled accommodation are almost 50 per cent more likely to re-offend compared with those with settled accommodation: a settled place to live is a key factor in reducing re-offending, cutting crime and protecting the public.

The data collected on people leaving prison for transitional accommodation, together with data on settled accommodation three months after release, can be found at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64c10b4e90b54500143e8375/Probation_Performance_Data_Tables_2022-23.xlsx.

HMPPS Community Accommodation Service (CAS) currently provides transitional accommodation via three tiers of support, each focused on a different cohort. CAS1 (Approved Premises) is used as a public protection resource to accommodate higher-risk offenders. CAS2 provides accommodation for medium-risk defendants on bail and prisoners eligible for release under home detention curfew. CAS3 is our ground-breaking new temporary accommodation service.

HMPPS launched CAS3 in July 2021, providing up to 12 weeks’ guaranteed accommodation on release for those leaving prison at risk of homelessness, with support to move on to settled accommodation. Initially implemented in five probation regions (Yorkshire and the Humber; North West; Greater Manchester; East of England; and Kent, Surrey and Sussex), the service was rolled out to Wales in June 2022. From April 2023, the CAS3 service was operating in all probation regions in England and Wales.

Between 2019-20 and 2022-23, the proportion of prison leavers who were homeless upon release decreased by five percentage points, from 16 per cent to 11 per cent.

By January 2023, the proportion of offenders housed on the first night of release from custody was 7.6 percentage points higher in CAS3 regions in comparison with regions where CAS3 had yet to be implemented.

Prisoners' Release: Temporary Accommodation

Asked by: Simon Fell (Conservative - Barrow and Furness)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department collects information on how many people who leave prison for transitional accommodation leave with settled accommodation.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Prison leavers without settled accommodation are almost 50 per cent more likely to re-offend compared with those with settled accommodation: a settled place to live is a key factor in reducing re-offending, cutting crime and protecting the public.

The data collected on people leaving prison for transitional accommodation, together with data on settled accommodation three months after release, can be found at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64c10b4e90b54500143e8375/Probation_Performance_Data_Tables_2022-23.xlsx.

HMPPS Community Accommodation Service (CAS) currently provides transitional accommodation via three tiers of support, each focused on a different cohort. CAS1 (Approved Premises) is used as a public protection resource to accommodate higher-risk offenders. CAS2 provides accommodation for medium-risk defendants on bail and prisoners eligible for release under home detention curfew. CAS3 is our ground-breaking new temporary accommodation service.

HMPPS launched CAS3 in July 2021, providing up to 12 weeks’ guaranteed accommodation on release for those leaving prison at risk of homelessness, with support to move on to settled accommodation. Initially implemented in five probation regions (Yorkshire and the Humber; North West; Greater Manchester; East of England; and Kent, Surrey and Sussex), the service was rolled out to Wales in June 2022. From April 2023, the CAS3 service was operating in all probation regions in England and Wales.

Between 2019-20 and 2022-23, the proportion of prison leavers who were homeless upon release decreased by five percentage points, from 16 per cent to 11 per cent.

By January 2023, the proportion of offenders housed on the first night of release from custody was 7.6 percentage points higher in CAS3 regions in comparison with regions where CAS3 had yet to be implemented.