Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Annual Report of the Independent Monitoring Board at HMP Bullingdon, published on 1 December 2021, what assessment he has made of the impact of prison leaver housing support measures taken during the outbreak of covid-19 on the proportions of prison leavers entering (a) settled accommodation and (b) transient accommodation; and what assessment he has made of the reasons for the fall in the proportion of prison leavers from HMP Bullingdon entering settled accommodation from 56 per cent in July 2019 to June 2020 and 50 per cent in July 2020 to June 2021.

As part of its response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Justice provided up to 56 nights’ accommodation per individual to prison leavers at risk of homelessness. Data shows that 12% of offenders released from custody in the year to March 2021 were recorded as homeless or rough sleeping, which presents a decrease compared to the 16% recorded homeless or rough sleeping in the preceding year (2019/20)

As part of the Accelerator Prisons Project, HMP Bullingdon have been trialling the role of a Housing Specialist to strengthen partnerships with key stakeholders and reduce the number of prison leavers released with no fixed abode. The Housing Specialist has been in post from August 2021.