Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of prison leavers went on to live in settled accommodation after using the Community Accommodation Service Tier 3 in the most recent period for which figures are available.

HMPPS Community Accommodation Service (CAS) provides transitional accommodation via three tiers of support, each focused on a different cohort. CAS3 was launched 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. 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.

We are undertaking an evaluation of the impact of CAS3 on offenders’ obtaining settled accommodation and employment, and on re-offending outcomes. The report is due to be published in the autumn.

The National Audit Office’s report “Improving resettlement support for prison leavers to reduce reoffending”, published in May 2023, looks at the impact of CAS3 on accommodation outcomes during the period up to February 2023. It can be accessed via the following link:

https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/improving-resettlement-support-for-prison-leavers-to-reduce-reoffending.pdf.