Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Government response to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs report on Custody-Community Transitions, published in October 2019, what recent progress has been made on recommendation 2 of the report of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs entitled Custody-Community Transitions, published on 12 June 2019.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) are committed to meeting the health needs of offenders in custody and the community, including those with substance misuse issues, mental health problems and those who are homeless. We welcome the publication of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) report on Custody-Community Transitions, and we are working closely with health partners to deliver the recommendations accepted by the government.

A cross-Government working group has been formed in order to address recommendations 1 and 2. This work has been delayed due to the government’s re-prioritisation of resources due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but will progress over the next couple of months. The programme of work of the group will include planning improvements to the transition pathway from custody to community for vulnerable offenders. The current transition pathway will be assessed to ensure appropriate support is provided for people with substance misuse, mental health and homelessness problems. It will also explore increasing the number of individuals who continue with substance misuse treatment post release into the community.

In response to recommendation 4, a ‘deep dive’ has already been conducted into Friday releases, but further development of the findings has been delayed due to the impact of COVID-19 on government priorities. While the deep dive did not conclude that changes to primary legislation would necessarily bring about improved outcomes or tackle the difficulties offenders face on release, further consideration, with our health and justice partners, is needed to explore what next steps will best improve resettlement outcomes.

In regard to recommendation 6, face to face services are currently challenging due to restrictions implemented due to COVID-19. However, HMPPS is continuing to work with external partners to ensure that support is provided to those in need of treatment for substance misuse, and will continue to do so once restrictions have been lifted. We work in conjunction with NHSE on substance misuse services for prisoners in custody, and with Public Health England for Local Authority commissioned services in the community.

Moreover, NHS England are currently rolling out RECONNECT services for those leaving prison to ensure that they engage with community health services to support them to avoid returning to the criminal justice system. This will help to improve the links in the community between healthcare and probation services including the probation service’s Through the Gate service. Current work includes the introduction of RECONNECT Pathfinders to support vulnerable individuals to engage with community based healthcare services.