Prisoners' Release: Females

(asked on 14th June 2021) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the duty to refer under the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, with respect to vulnerable women leaving prison.


This question was answered on 28th June 2021

This Government is committed to ending rough sleeping this Parliament and believes everyone deserves a roof over their head. Everyone leaving prison should have somewhere safe and secure to live; accommodation enables offenders to hold down a job and reduces the likelihood of them re-offending.

Work is being done across government between the Ministry of Justice, MHCLG and the Welsh Government, to address the barriers offenders face in securing suitable accommodation and we are aware of the specific complex needs of women prison leavers.

In preparation for the launch of the new unified probation service, MoJ have published a policy framework in support of the Homelessness Reduction Act (2017) Duty to Refer process, which will mandate the roles and responsibilities of both prison and probation staff in making effective referrals. The operation of the new policy framework will be monitored and reviewed on a quarterly basis with MHCLG and any adjustments to the process incorporated into future iterations of the policy framework.

To support the oversight of its COVID-19 response, HMPPS set up seven Homelessness Prevention Teams to help find accommodation for offenders upon release. These teams have been very successful in securing temporary accommodation outcomes, including short-term rented accommodation and building new local partnerships with local authorities and housing partners.  The HPTs continue to operate.

We are investing more than £20m in supporting prison leavers at risk of homelessness into temporary accommodation. Individuals released from prison will be provided up to 12 weeks of temporary accommodation and will be supported into long-term settled accommodation before the end of that 12-week period. Initially launching in five national probation regions, the service will support around 3,000 offenders in its first year and will be commencing this Summer. It will be in operation during the next financial year 2021-22, with a view to scaling up and rolling out nationally. The service will take account of the needs of women, including those with complex needs and accommodation provision will be dedicated to single gender usage as required.

We are also introducing and testing a new specialist housing advisor role in twenty prisons, including within the female estate. The new role will seek to strengthen links between prisons, through the gate teams and local authorities to improve accommodation outcomes for those at risk of homelessness. Subject to evaluation, the intention is to scale up and roll-out nationally across all resettlement prisons.

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