Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether all prisons in England and Wales ensure that those leaving on discharge have plans for suitable and affordable accommodation.

As part of the reforms to probation in 2015 all offenders, including those sentenced to less than 12 months, now get targeted support from probation providers when they leave prison to help them reintegrate into society. This includes working with local partners to help them find accommodation, which is provided by the local authority.

On 27 July, the MOJ announced our intention to end contracts with Community Rehabilitation Companies in 2020.We will be consulting on introducing changes so that probation services do more to help offenders find accommodation and employment on release from custody. We are investing an additional £22m per annum during the current contract period to ensure that CRCs deliver an enhanced ‘Through the Gate’ service to offenders leaving prison. This will also include sustained support to find accommodation and employment on discharge.

As part of the Government’s Rough Sleeping strategy, MoJ and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), will be investing approximately £6m over two years in a pilot scheme to help ex-offenders secure suitable accommodation upon release. The Cabinet Office has also introduced a new Reducing Reoffending Board that will work across government to tackle some of the main causes of reoffending, including the lack of suitable accommodation on release