Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to support veterans.
Answered by Calvin Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans and People)
We have delivered record investment for our remarkable veterans throughout the country and published a Veterans Strategy which includes celebrating them as a vital national asset.
This includes £50 million for the VALOUR programme, £12 million for the Reducing Veteran Homelessness Programme, alongside Ops COURAGE, RESTORE, FORTITUDE, ASCEND and NOVA.
We are ensuring our veterans can access the support they deserve when and where it is needed.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce regional variations of women released from prison into homelessness.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government recognises that women leaving prison can face distinct and interconnected barriers to securing accommodation, including experiences of domestic abuse and trauma, mental health or substance misuse needs, financial insecurity and caring responsibilities. These factors can make safe, appropriate and sustainable accommodation particularly important to women’s resettlement. Stable accommodation supports effective resettlement and reduces the risk of re-offending.
A minimum of 10% of places across the Community Accommodation Service are allocated to women, in women-only properties. Strategic Housing Specialists also work across the women’s estate with probation teams, Homelessness Prevention Teams and local authorities to identify needs early and improve access to appropriate accommodation before release.
Through the National Plan to End Homelessness, the Government has made a commitment to halving the proportion of prison leavers under probation supervision released with no fixed abode by the end of this Parliament. Regional and local data are published to support action to improve consistency and address geographical variation.
We will continue to invest in integrating digital community accommodation services, to make it easier to identify and match individuals to the right housing support and accommodation at the right time. We will also continue to collaborate with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and other Government Departments, to develop a strong foundation from which we can work together to end homelessness.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce the particular risk for women leaving prison homeless.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government recognises that women leaving prison can face distinct and interconnected barriers to securing accommodation, including experiences of domestic abuse and trauma, mental health or substance misuse needs, financial insecurity and caring responsibilities. These factors can make safe, appropriate and sustainable accommodation particularly important to women’s resettlement. Stable accommodation supports effective resettlement and reduces the risk of re-offending.
A minimum of 10% of places across the Community Accommodation Service are allocated to women, in women-only properties. Strategic Housing Specialists also work across the women’s estate with probation teams, Homelessness Prevention Teams and local authorities to identify needs early and improve access to appropriate accommodation before release.
Through the National Plan to End Homelessness, the Government has made a commitment to halving the proportion of prison leavers under probation supervision released with no fixed abode by the end of this Parliament. Regional and local data are published to support action to improve consistency and address geographical variation.
We will continue to invest in integrating digital community accommodation services, to make it easier to identify and match individuals to the right housing support and accommodation at the right time. We will also continue to collaborate with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and other Government Departments, to develop a strong foundation from which we can work together to end homelessness.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of women released from prison into homelessness.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government recognises that women leaving prison can face distinct and interconnected barriers to securing accommodation, including experiences of domestic abuse and trauma, mental health or substance misuse needs, financial insecurity and caring responsibilities. These factors can make safe, appropriate and sustainable accommodation particularly important to women’s resettlement. Stable accommodation supports effective resettlement and reduces the risk of re-offending.
A minimum of 10% of places across the Community Accommodation Service are allocated to women, in women-only properties. Strategic Housing Specialists also work across the women’s estate with probation teams, Homelessness Prevention Teams and local authorities to identify needs early and improve access to appropriate accommodation before release.
Through the National Plan to End Homelessness, the Government has made a commitment to halving the proportion of prison leavers under probation supervision released with no fixed abode by the end of this Parliament. Regional and local data are published to support action to improve consistency and address geographical variation.
We will continue to invest in integrating digital community accommodation services, to make it easier to identify and match individuals to the right housing support and accommodation at the right time. We will also continue to collaborate with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and other Government Departments, to develop a strong foundation from which we can work together to end homelessness.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what preventative services his department is offering to individuals in custody to stop re-offending.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are guided by the evidence of what works to reduce reoffending and are working with partners across Government and at a local level to address the underlying drivers of offending behaviour and improve outcomes for people in custody and on release through better access to treatment and recovery services, prison education, employment support and stable accommodation.
To support recovery from drug and alcohol misuse, we are improving access to mutual aid in prisons. We have also funded Incentivised Substance Free Living units in 88 prisons, where prisoners agree to regular drug testing and can access enhanced opportunities, and will expand these units to a further 12 prisons, bringing the total to 100 across the estate. We have also invested in technology to enable virtual appointments with community treatment providers to support continuity of care on release.
We are also modernising prison education, creating a joined-up system that supports progression from basic literacy and numeracy into skills training and work placements, while widening access to higher education. Alongside this, key employment roles are in place across every resettlement prison to prepare prisoners for work on release, while Regional Employment Councils bring employers together with prisons, probation and DWP to support prison leavers into work.
Through the National Plan to End Homelessness, we are working with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to halve the proportion of people released from prison homeless and increase the proportion in settled accommodation three months after release by the end of this Parliament.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce the link between homelessness and reoffending.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Stable accommodation is key to reducing reoffending. Offenders without accommodation on release have a reoffending rate of almost double that of those in settled accommodation. Ending rough sleeping is a key priority of the Prime Minister, and the Ministry of Justice is working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to deliver the National Plan to End Homelessness, including a commitment to halve prison leaver homelessness and increase the number of prison leavers in settled accommodation by the end of this Parliament.
We are taking action through our Community Accommodation Service Tier 3 (CAS3), which provides up to 84 nights of temporary accommodation for prison leavers at risk of homelessness. Alongside this, 50 prison-based Strategic Housing Specialists work with probation and local authorities across England and Wales to secure accommodation before release and strengthen pre-release planning.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what role Ministers in the Office for Equality and Opportunity have in policy development and decisions on faith and belief; and whether Equalities Ministers attend MHCLG Ministerial meetings.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) leads the Government’s work to support and engage faith and belief groups, and coordinates the Government’s work to tackle religious hatred. While the Minister for Homelessness, Democracy, Communities and Faith in MHCLG holds primary responsibility for faith and belief policy, they will work with other Ministers from across government who develop policy and make decisions that may impact faith and belief communities. For example, the Office for Equality and Opportunity is responsible for the Equality Act 2010, including its protections against discrimination and harassment on the basis of religion or belief.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to (a) extend the jurisdiction of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and (b) establish an alternative independent complaints mechanism for investigation of allegations of maladministration by parish and town councils.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman provides members of the public with a vital complaints resolution service for when things go wrong with the public services they rely on. Their investigations provide the public with personal redress and improve the delivery of these services by local authorities. Most of their complaints are about key public services, such as children’s services, adult social care and homelessness.
The Government has no plans to bring town and parish councils within the Ombudsman’s scope. Parish and town councils are accountable through local complaints procedures, audit arrangements and elections.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of access to independent complaints mechanisms for residents when making complaints about the administration of parish and town councils.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman provides members of the public with a vital complaints resolution service for when things go wrong with the public services they rely on. Their investigations provide the public with personal redress and improve the delivery of these services by local authorities. Most of their complaints are about key public services, such as children’s services, adult social care and homelessness.
The Government has no plans to bring town and parish councils within the Ombudsman’s scope. Parish and town councils are accountable through local complaints procedures, audit arrangements and elections.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that women sleeping rough are identified and included in the Government’s commitment to get everyone in by Christmas.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On his first day in office, the Prime Minister launched an urgent national drive to end rough sleeping. We have announced £442 million new funding to support this ambition, taking total investment in homelessness and rough sleeping services over the next three years to over £4 billion.
The Government recognises that women experiencing rough sleeping are often less visible and may be at greater risk of violence, abuse and exploitation. Local areas are encouraged to work proactively with specialist women’s services, domestic abuse and violence against women and girls services, health partners and community organisations to identify and support women who may be sleeping rough or at risk of doing so. Further guidance on how local authorities are expected to support women through the Rough Sleeping Programme can be found here: Rough Sleeping Programme Guidance - GOV.UK
You can find data about the number of women sleeping rough in England on gov.uk here. Since June 2025 we have included a question on the number of women sleeping rough in our monthly rough sleeping survey. The annual rough sleeping snapshot also includes data on the number of women estimated to be sleeping rough on a single night in England. In addition to our official rough sleeping statistics, we continue to gather information from a variety of sources to understand women’s rough sleeping, including the Women’s Census.
Through the Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund, we are providing £37 million over three years to support specialist organisations that work with women facing some of the greatest barriers to accessing support.