Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisons are facilitating the Government's Through the Gate provision for offenders serving 12 months or less.

As a result of the reforms to probation services, for the first time, adult offenders serving under 12 months in custody can access the Through the Gate resettlement service in prison and into the community. To support this unprecedented resettlement service we established a network of 89 Resettlement Prisons to facilitate the transition from custody into the community to enable the Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) to work with those prisoners returning to their local area. The contracts with CRCs also provide for such services even where a prisoner has not been transferred to a designated resettlement prison prior to release.