Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department’s announcement of 29 January, £70 million to keep prison leavers off the streets and cut crime, which probation regions will receive funding to support prison leavers at risk of homelessness into temporary basic accommodation for up to 12 weeks; and how much funding each region will receive.

The five probation regions contained in the announcement were the North West; Yorkshire and the Humber; East of England; Greater Manchester and Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

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.

Individuals released from prison will be provided up to 12 weeks of temporary accommodation and will be supported into long-term settled accommodation before the end of that 12-week period. This service will be in operation for the next financial year and will commence in Summer 2021.Spending Review 2021 will set out the approach for future years.