Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to improve pre-release planning to ensure that prison leavers do not become homeless or sleep rough following release.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We are committed to ensuring that robust pre-release plans are created for those leaving custody, so that accommodation needs are identified early and the right support is put in place. Dedicated Pre-Release Teams in prisons work closely with individuals to identify immediate needs, coordinate referrals to relevant services, and support continuity between custody and the community.
In the National Plan to End Homelessness, the Government has committed to reduce the proportion of people released from prison homeless by 50% by the end of this parliament. 50 prison-based Strategic Housing Specialists (SHS) across England and Wales work with probation teams and Local Authorities to enable a multi-agency approach to securing housing before release, including by establishing pre-release accommodation panels with appropriate Local Authorities. We are also investing in integrating digital community accommodation services to make it easier to identify and match individuals to the right housing-related support at the right time.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make it her policy to implement all recommendations made in the Ministry of Justice report entitled Assessing Risk of Harm to Children and Parents in Private Law Children Cases, published in June 2020, as part of her Department's planned Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government was elected with a mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. As part of this we are committed to ensuring everyone involved in private law children cases in the family courts is protected from harm and that the welfare of the child is always the court’s paramount consideration when making decisions about children’s lives.
In May 2023, the Ministry of Justice published a delivery update which outlined the progress made against the recommendations of the Final Report on Assessing Risk of Harm to Children and Parents in Private Law Children Cases. This can be found on GOV.UK.
The Ministry of Justice has already taken forward many of the actions it committed to following the report, including announcing family court reforms, such as expanding our Pathfinder programme in the family court which is improving the experience of children, and domestic abuse survivors in private law court proceedings relating to children. The Government will be publishing its new cross-government strategy later this summer, which will outline how we aim to meet our ambition to tackle violence against women and girls.