Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what funding his Department plans to allocate to the Homelessness Prevention Taskforces operating in each National Probation Service region from 1 April 2021.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
In 2021-22, £1.86 million will fund the 12 regional Homelessness Prevention Taskforces. This will provide a Band 6, a Band 5 and a Band 3 member of staff in each region – that is £155,000 per region.
Five of the 12 probation regions in England (East of England, Yorkshire and the Humber, Greater Manchester, Kent Surrey and Sussex, and the North West) will be launching a new accommodation service in summer 2021, providing up to 12 weeks’ worth of basic temporary accommodation for prison leavers who would otherwise be homeless.
£20 million will be allocated between the five regions. As yet the allocation to each region has not been determined. Funding will be allocated according to the number of people we forecast being released homeless in each area, and will reflect the learning gathered from both the Covid-19 emergency scheme, and the offender accommodation pilot.
It is our intention, pending the Spending Review later this year, to proceed to roll out the accommodation provision nationally.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what support he plans to make available to prevent homelessness for prison leavers in the (a) Wales, (b) North East, (c) West Midlands, (d) East Midlands, (e) London, (f) South West and (g) South Central National Probation Service region, from 1 April 2021.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
While our new scheme to support prison leavers will begin in five of the twelve NPS regions this year, there will continue to be a range of support available for those leaving prison in the other seven regions, including offender management, rehabilitation services and charity organisations across England and Wales for those at risk of homelessness. In addition, we have set up seven Homelessness Prevention Taskforces (HPTs) to help find accommodation for offenders upon release. These taskforces were initially set up for each of the 7 old divisions but will soon reflect the new regional arrangement of the NPS.
HPTs will work across England and Wales to ensure strategic links are in place with Local Authorities, Police, Housing Associations, substance misuse services and health services. They will also work closely with offender managers, who retain responsibility for individuals and their rehabilitation plan, to help homeless offenders into stable accommodation.
HM Prison and Probation Service has published an Accommodation Operational Framework that sets out the roles and responsibilities of prisons, probation and wider partners and a series of commitments We are currently putting in place regional contracts with accommodation support providers under the new Dynamic Framework ahead of the unification of probation services in June.
The future performance framework for probation unified delivery will include a target on the number of individuals being housed on release from custody (90%), aligned with current prisons metrics, to promote joint working between prisons and the National Probation Service in supporting prisoners leaving custody to find a home.
We will also measure settled accommodation for all people under supervision (those released from prison and those on community sentences). This will assess the status three months after commencement of supervision (80%), supporting referrals to accommodation services provided under the Dynamic Framework.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prisoners are released into (a) homelessness, (b) temporary accommodation and (c) hostels in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
We recognise that accommodation is a key priority as it is often the first step in an individual’s resettlement journey. We continue to work with councils and charities to secure suitable accommodation, while investigating long-term solutions to prevent homelessness and help offenders turn their backs on crime.
We provided data on accommodation on release last summer given the uncertainty around early releases from prison and other factors during the first Covid peak, and the public interest in this area at the time. In response to Written Parliamentary Question 76656 on 28 July 2020 we supplied data ahead of the official statistics publication schedule.
We are now reverting back to publishing this data in a more orderly and transparent way in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, which allows sufficient time for analysts to fully assure and quality check the data. Future statistics on accommodation on release from will be published in due course, in line with the official statistics publication schedule. The next release will be published as part of the Community Performance Series. Previously the release schedule for the series had been quarterly, it has now moved to an annual cycle, with the 29 July 2021 edition reporting full-year outcomes for 2020/21.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking in response to the recommendations of the report by the Safe Homes for Women Leaving Prison initiative Safe Homes for Women Leaving Prison, published in October 2020.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
The report by the Safe Homes for Women Leaving Prison initiative incorrectly suggests that six in ten female prisoners are released homeless. This is based on a sample of just 116 women from a single prison in 2019. Official statistics published in July 2020 show that 6,185 women were released from custody in the year to March 2020, with 50.8% of them going into secure, long-term accommodation and a further 7% to approved premises. 18.3% (i.e. fewer than 2 in 10) were recorded as being homeless at the point of release.
Nonetheless, too many prisoners, of both genders, are released homeless. We are strengthening our work to prevent homelessness on release by continuing the successful probation Homeless Prevention Teams (HPT), which have supported many homeless service users during the pandemic. We are also engaging with other organisations to develop new initiatives.
We are launching a new accommodation service in Summer 2021, providing up to 12 weeks of basic temporary accommodation for prison leavers who would otherwise be homeless. This service will launch in five of the 12 probation regions in England and Wales: the East of England, Yorkshire and the Humber, Greater Manchester, Kent Surrey and Sussex, and the North West. It is our intention to roll out the accommodation provision nationally, pending the Spending Review later this year.
We also continue to ensure that appropriate funding is available to women’s community sector organisations, having invested £5.1 million in the two years following publication of the Female Offender Strategy as well as announcing a further £2.5 million last year to cover the core costs of these organisations. This funding responded directly to the many requests for the Government to act to address financial instability in parts of the sector.
HMPPS has also recently announced the development of Eden House, which will be a new Approved Premises for women in Bristol; it is due to open in June 2021 and will be the first new Approved Premises in over 30 years.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that vulnerable female prison leavers, in particular those with complex needs, have access to safe and secure accommodation immediately on release.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
The report by the Safe Homes for Women Leaving Prison initiative incorrectly suggests that six in ten female prisoners are released homeless. This is based on a sample of just 116 women from a single prison in 2019. Official statistics published in July 2020 show that 6,185 women were released from custody in the year to March 2020, with 50.8% of them going into secure, long-term accommodation and a further 7% to approved premises. 18.3% (i.e. fewer than 2 in 10) were recorded as being homeless at the point of release.
Nonetheless, too many prisoners, of both genders, are released homeless. We are strengthening our work to prevent homelessness on release by continuing the successful probation Homeless Prevention Teams (HPT), which have supported many homeless service users during the pandemic. We are also engaging with other organisations to develop new initiatives.
We are launching a new accommodation service in Summer 2021, providing up to 12 weeks of basic temporary accommodation for prison leavers who would otherwise be homeless. This service will launch in five of the 12 probation regions in England and Wales: the East of England, Yorkshire and the Humber, Greater Manchester, Kent Surrey and Sussex, and the North West. It is our intention to roll out the accommodation provision nationally, pending the Spending Review later this year.
We also continue to ensure that appropriate funding is available to women’s community sector organisations, having invested £5.1 million in the two years following publication of the Female Offender Strategy as well as announcing a further £2.5 million last year to cover the core costs of these organisations. This funding responded directly to the many requests for the Government to act to address financial instability in parts of the sector.
HMPPS has also recently announced the development of Eden House, which will be a new Approved Premises for women in Bristol; it is due to open in June 2021 and will be the first new Approved Premises in over 30 years.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the briefing by Women in Prison, A national plan for tackling coronavirus in prisons, published on 21 January, what plans they have (1) to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on female prisoners, and (2) to improve the rehabilitation of women who have been in prison.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
We have taken quick and decisive action, backed by Public Health England and Wales, to limit the spread of the virus across all prison establishments, including the women’s estate. This has included restricting regimes, minimising inter-prison transfers and compartmentalising prisons into different units to isolate the sick, shield the vulnerable and quarantine new arrivals. A comprehensive regular testing regime of both staff and prisoners is in place and is key in helping to prevent the spread of the virus. Our evidence gathering indicates these measures have had a positive impact on limiting deaths and the transmission of the virus in prisons. We are now working closely with the NHS to support the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccinations for eligible groups in custody.
A women’s self-harm taskforce has been set up to coordinate and drive forward work aimed at reducing levels of self-harm in the women’s estate, which includes the introduction of wellbeing checks for women during COVID-19 restrictions.
A range of other measures have also been put in place across the women’s estate to reduce the impact of COVID-19, including:
Through the Gate (TTG) providers continue to work to an Exceptional Delivery Model and offer remote phone support to all prisoners in their last 12 weeks of sentence. This includes signposting to relevant Third Sector providers in the community and other Government departments (e.g. completing the Duty to Refer under the Homelessness Reduction Act to Local Authorities and referring to local HPTs if they are without accommodation). TTG staff, community Offender Managers, HPTs and released women have written information about services they can access before, during and after release. Staff can make referrals to third sector services, such as women’s centres, as appropriate and women can self-refer if they wish.
To support its COVID-19 response, HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has set up seven Homelessness Prevention Taskforces (HPT) to help find accommodation for offenders upon release. These have been very successful in securing improved accommodation outcomes. We are exploring how the regional HPTs might be a feature of the future landscape, ensuring that the specific needs of women are fully considered.
HMPPS has developed a national Accommodation Framework setting out how to work together with partners to ensure that offenders can access and maintain settled accommodation that is safe and appropriate for their needs. This framework contains specific aims in terms of women’s access to post release accommodation, including the provision of more places in Approved Premises (Aps) and more appropriate accommodation through the Bail Accommodation and Support Services (BASS) that are currently run by NACRO.
There are seven APs for women who have high risk complex needs covering England and Wales. We are working to the expand the geographical coverage of the provision and having opened a new women’s AP in London during 2020 we expect to open a further one in the South West during 2021.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
What assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on support for women leaving prison.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
We have taken quick and decisive action, backed by Public Health England and Wales, to limit the spread of the virus across all prison establishments, including the women’s estate. This has included restricting regimes, minimising inter-prison transfers and compartmentalising prisons into different units to isolate the sick, shield the vulnerable and quarantine new arrivals. A comprehensive regular testing regime of both staff and prisoners is in place and is key in helping to prevent the spread of the virus. Our evidence gathering indicates these measures have had a positive impact on limiting deaths and the transmission of the virus in prisons. We are now working closely with the NHS to support the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccinations for eligible groups in custody.
On 31 March 2020 the Government announced that it would be considering pregnant women and women on Mother and Baby Units for early release from prison, as part of a wider plan to protect the NHS and save lives during the Covid-19 pandemic. Prison Governors/Directors are able to consider eligible women for early release based on thorough risk assessment, and subject to secure healthcare pathways and appropriate accommodation, in consultation with partners in community support services. This scheme remains active, and the most recent release was in January 2021.
To support its COVID-19 response, HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has set up Homelessness Prevention Taskforces (HPT) in all probation regions to help find accommodation for offenders upon release. These have been very successful in securing improved accommodation outcomes. We are exploring how the regional HPTs might be a feature of the future probation landscape, ensuring that the specific needs of women are fully considered.
In addition, measures have been put in place across the women’s estate to help reduce the impact of COVID-19 for women in custody and to help plan for their release. Some of these measures, include; additional phone credit per week, enabling contact with their support networks, Through the Gate providers are working to Exceptional Delivery Models offering phone support to all prisoners pre-release.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in ensuring that all prisoners have a place to live on release from prison.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
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.
The Homeless Reduction Act (HRA) is helping more people to get help earlier, particularly single people who often would not have received help in the past and would have been at risk of sleeping on our streets, including individuals leaving prison. The most recent HRA Experimental Statutory Homelessness Statistics, published by MHCLG in October, show that the National Probation Services made the largest number of homelessness referrals which resulted in an assessment. This was 27% of the total and an increase of almost 118% from April to June 2019. 95% of these resulted in a homelessness duty, which shows the duty to refer is working better for this cohort in the last quarter. In preparation for the new unified probation model, we are developing a policy framework, which will mandate necessary actions to be taken by prisons and probation staff in supporting the duty to refer and strengthen the process.
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 to permanent accommodation. The scheme initially ran between 18th May and 31st August and provided up to 56 nights’ accommodation per individual. In light of the recent introduction of national restrictions across England from Thursday 5th November and the Welsh Government’s introduction of a ‘firebreak’, the Government has reinstated this accommodation support. This started from 22nd October 2020 and will be subject to monthly reviews. As part of its initial response, The Ministry of Justice, through Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), set up seven Homelessness Prevention Taskforces (HPTs) to work with local authorities and other partners to find accommodation for offenders released from prison; these taskforces continue to be active.
In addition, our accommodation pilots, in Leeds, Pentonville and Bristol, have been operating since August 2019. By the end of the enrolment period, the 31st July, we had enrolled 323 individuals onto the scheme. Subject to evaluation, we will use the lessons from the pilot to inform future provision of accommodation for all offenders, through the new Probation model.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to support prisoners on release in (a) the West Midlands and (b) England.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
We are working collaboratively with other government departments and interested parties. Through the Rough Sleeping Strategy, the Government is investing up to £6.4m in a pilot to provide improved accommodation support through a new partnership approach between prisons, probation providers and Local Authorities (LA) to plan, secure and sustain accommodation for prisoners on their release.
The National Probation Service has improved commissioning rates and set minimum levels of funding for their commissioning of TTG services from CRCs for those people leaving non-resettlement prisons. This TTG service includes providing help to prison leavers with finding accommodation on their release.
The CRCs are currently working to a TTG Exceptional Delivery Model which identifies the minimum requirement for TTG delivery during the COVID-19 period taking into account the necessary restrictions to prison regimes. During the period of COVID-19, we set up seven divisional Homelessness Prevention Teams (HPTs) to deal with the urgent issues presenting in relation to securing accommodation for those being released from prison, initially as part of the End of Custody Temporary Release (ECTR) scheme and latterly in accordance with their Conditional Release Date (CRD). These teams have been very successful in securing improved accommodation outcomes and building new local partnerships with local authorities and housing partners.
A critical part of the HPTs success has been the exceptional funding scheme agreed with HMT to fund the provision of accommodation to individuals released from prison and at risk of homelessness. This emergency approval was for a limited time and ran from 18th May, closing to new entrants on 31st August as the public health and public protection risks warranted it. However, in light of the recent Government announcements relating to the introduction of the new three-tier COVID alert level system, and the national restrictions in England and Wales HMPPS considered the public health benefits of reinstating the emergency accommodation scheme. It has been agreed to reinstate the scheme until 21st January 2021, subject to regular review.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to provide support for prison leavers at risk of homelessness in the next three months.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Ministry of Justice ministers meet regularly with a range of ministers across Government to discuss issues impacting prison leavers, including homelessness.
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 to permanent accommodation. The scheme initially ran between 18th May and 31st August and provided up to 56 nights’ accommodation per individual. In light of the recent introduction of national restrictions across England from Thursday 5th November and the Welsh Government’s introduction of a ‘firebreak’, the Government has reinstated this accommodation support. This started from 22nd October 2020 and will be subject to monthly reviews.
The Ministry of Justice, through Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), has also set up seven Homelessness Prevention Taskforces to work with local authorities and other partners to find accommodation for offenders released from prison; these taskforces continue to be active.