Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of prisoners who are (a) in employment and (b) housed as a result of the Government's resettlement policies.

We do not hold exact data on the numbers of prisoners currently in employment on release. Matched MOJ-DWP data indicates that 17% of those released from custody in 2011/12 were in P45 employment one year after release. More recent data from 2014/15 indicates that at a national level 26.5% of prisoners were entering employment upon release, but this data was self-reported.

Supporting offenders into meaningful employment is a vital part of the Government’s approach to tackling reoffending. That is why we are working to better link skills and training in prison to employment on release. We will also continue to drive innovative employment programmes like the Prisoner Apprenticeship Pathway, where prisoners will receive high quality, employer-led training and work experience in custody that leads to a guaranteed apprenticeship on release, and the New Futures Network (NFN), that will support empowered governors to broker relationships between prisons and employers more effectively. Initiatives like these, coupled with work to incentivise employers to work with ex-offenders, will all help ensure offenders have the best chance of securing employment immediately on release.

We currently do not have comprehensive and accurate figures on the number of offenders with different types of accommodation needs, both on entry to prison and on release. Nevertheless, in the year ending March 2017, 70% of offenders released during 2016/17, excluding those released in London, to the supervision of the Community Rehabilitation Companies were settled in accommodation, whether in permanent housing, with family or friends, or in supported housing or hostels. The remaining 30% were released with either unknown or unsettled accommodation outcomes. We are committed to improving accommodation outcomes for offenders on release.