Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners in HMP Lewes were (a) released as street homeless and (b) released and recalled (i) once and (ii) multiple times in each of the last six months.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are unable to provide data on street homelessness beyond 31 March 2023 as that data is a subset of data due for future publication and releasing it at this time would breach official statistics publication rules, as outlined in the Code of Practice for Statistics. Data for the latest six-month period, October 2022-March 2023, is available is provided in table 1 below.
Table 1: Number not housed on the first night of release from HMP Lewes, with an accommodation status at release recorded as Homeless - Rough Sleeping by month of release, October 2022 to March 2023.
Month of Release | Number |
October | 9 |
November | 10 |
December | 11 |
January | 4 |
February | 10 |
March | 9 |
Total | 53 |
Notes:
1. These figures are drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent.
2. Data is consistent with metric CU150 Housed on the first night of custodial release, contained within the latest Performance Ratings publication, 2022-2023: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-performance-ratings-2022-to-2023
3. In order to be counted in measure CU150, the release event must be found in both Prison-NOMIS and nDelius. Unmatched release events are excluded. (I.e., the figures provided might not include all cases).
4. Release events with a missing or obsolete status are treated as "negative" in this measure, as are release events with multiple statuses.
Data source: National Delius and Prison NOMIS
We are unable to provide data on releases and recall of offenders beyond 31 December 2023 as that data is a subset of data due for future publication and releasing it at this time would breach official statistics publication rules, as outlined in the Code of Practice for Statistics. Data for the latest six-month period, July 2023 - December 2023, is available is provided in table 2 below.
Table 2: The number of first-time releases from HMP Lewes from July- December 2023, and subsequent recalls by 31 December 2023
Month of release | Number of releases | Number of offenders recalled once | Number of offenders recalled more than once |
July | 47 | 17 | * |
August | 45 | 16 | 6 |
September | 42 | 11 | * |
October | 52 | 18 | 3 |
November | 49 | 10 | * |
December | 43 | 10 | 0 |
Notes:
1. Offenders are counted once in each month of release. There could be a handful of offenders counted twice across different months where they were released for the first time on different sentences.
2. Recalls are counted from date of release up to 31 December 2023. Where further recalls have occurred beyond 31 December 2023, these recalls are not included.
3. Given releases in later months have a shorter time for recalls to occur, direct comparisons across months are biased. The months have different lengths of time for recalls to occur.
4. Disclosure control: An asterisk (*) has been used to suppress values of one or two. This is to prevent the disclosure of individual information. Further suppression may be applied where needed.
5. Data quality: The figures in these tables have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Data source: P-NOMIS and Public Protection Unit Database (PPUD)
We know that having a safe place to stay helps cut crime which is why we are investing in our transitional accommodation service so prison leavers can have a guaranteed 12 weeks of basic, temporary accommodation to provide a stable base on release.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the number and proportion of prisoners that were released under the End of Custody Supervised License scheme who were homeless upon their release from prison in each month since October 2023.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
End of Custody Supervised Licence (ECSL) began in October 2023. Analysis of its use will be based on at least one year’s worth of data and published in line with the same approach we take for other statistical releases such as deaths of offenders in the community. We cannot provide any breakdowns of the ECSL cohort ahead of publication because they would give an early indication of that cohort and hence these statistics.
Release under ECSL follows the same planning and arrangements as release at the normal automatic release point and that includes making suitable arrangements for accommodation.
We know that having a safe place to stay helps cut crime which is why we are investing in our ground-breaking transitional accommodation service so prison leavers can have a guaranteed 12 weeks of basic, temporary accommodation to provide a stable base on release.
His Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service has a statutory duty in England 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 its Accommodation for Ex-Offenders scheme.
In 2022/23, 86% of prisoners were accommodated on first night of release, up from 80% in 2019/20.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the number and proportion of prisoners that were released under the End of Custody Supervised License scheme who were homeless upon their release from prison.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
End of Custody Supervised Licence (ECSL) began in October 2023. Analysis of its use will be based on at least one year’s worth of data and published in line with the same approach we take for other statistical releases such as deaths of offenders in the community.
Release under ECSL follows the same planning and arrangements as release at the normal automatic release point and that includes making suitable arrangements for accommodation.
We know that having a safe place to stay helps cut crime which is why we are investing in our transitional accommodation service so prison leavers can have a guaranteed 12 weeks of basic, temporary accommodation to provide a stable base on release.
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.
In 2022/23, 86% of prisoners were accommodated on first night of release, up from 80% in 2019/20.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent the homelessness to prison cycle.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The Government’s Rough Sleeping Strategy published in September 2022 and published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ending-rough-sleeping-for-good), sets out, in section 4.1, how we are delivering our aim that no one should leave prison homeless or to sleep rough.
Since publication of the strategy we have published further allocations for the Accommodation for ex-Offenders scheme up to March 2025, which are available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/accommodation-for-ex-offenders-scheme-local-authority-funding-allocations-between-july-2021-and-march-2025
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the relationship, if any, of the rate of reoffending with the availability of a place for prisoners to stay upon release.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The number of prison leavers housed upon release from prison in 2021-22 was 43,521 and this represents 86.8% of the total number of prison leavers for the period where the destination is known*. This is an improvement of approximately 6.6 percentage points on 2019-20.
*Cases are not included when the accommodation status is unknown (for a reason other than awaiting assessment) or provided by the Home Office Immigration Enforcement Service.
Prison leavers without settled accommodation are 50% more likely to reoffend than those who have stable accommodation. A settled place to live is key to reducing reoffending, cutting crime and protecting the public. Probation practitioners are better able to robustly supervise an offender and protect the public when they know where they are living. The government is committed to end rough sleeping and tackling offender homelessness. Our Prisons Strategy White Paper set out our plans to reduce reoffending, including improving prison leavers’ access to accommodation. This includes expanding nationally the transitional Community Accommodation Service Tier 3 (CAS3) to all probation regions, so that prison leavers who would otherwise be at risk of homelessness, can access temporary accommodation for up to 12 weeks.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of prisoners who, on the day of their release, have a bed to go to that night; and what percentage of those released that represents.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The number of prison leavers housed upon release from prison in 2021-22 was 43,521 and this represents 86.8% of the total number of prison leavers for the period where the destination is known*. This is an improvement of approximately 6.6 percentage points on 2019-20.
*Cases are not included when the accommodation status is unknown (for a reason other than awaiting assessment) or provided by the Home Office Immigration Enforcement Service.
Prison leavers without settled accommodation are 50% more likely to reoffend than those who have stable accommodation. A settled place to live is key to reducing reoffending, cutting crime and protecting the public. Probation practitioners are better able to robustly supervise an offender and protect the public when they know where they are living. The government is committed to end rough sleeping and tackling offender homelessness. Our Prisons Strategy White Paper set out our plans to reduce reoffending, including improving prison leavers’ access to accommodation. This includes expanding nationally the transitional Community Accommodation Service Tier 3 (CAS3) to all probation regions, so that prison leavers who would otherwise be at risk of homelessness, can access temporary accommodation for up to 12 weeks.