Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce the link between homelessness and reoffending.

Stable accommodation is key to reducing reoffending. Offenders without accommodation on release have a reoffending rate of almost double that of those in settled accommodation. Ending rough sleeping is a key priority of the Prime Minister, and the Ministry of Justice is working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to deliver the National Plan to End Homelessness, including a commitment to halve prison leaver homelessness and increase the number of prison leavers in settled accommodation by the end of this Parliament.

We are taking action through our Community Accommodation Service Tier 3 (CAS3), which provides up to 84 nights of temporary accommodation for prison leavers at risk of homelessness. Alongside this, 50 prison-based Strategic Housing Specialists work with probation and local authorities across England and Wales to secure accommodation before release and strengthen pre-release planning.