The number of people finding themselves homeless after being released from prison has increased by 30 per cent in a year, according to research by social justice charity Nacro and the Independent. The situation risks a ‘revolving door’ back in to custody, it states, despite a government scheme being in place to house people on release.
More than 9,200 people were released into homelessness or rough sleeping in the year to March 2024, according to analysis of Ministry of Justice figures – up from just over 7,000 the previous year. The number of people leaving prison overall rose from 62,345 to 70,040, meaning that more than 13 per cent of prison releases are now resulting in homelessness, while the number of women being released into homelessness is up by almost 40 per cent.
Much of the rise is the result of the ‘chaotic’ early release scheme, which has seen more than 10,000 prisoners released up to 70 days early to free up prison space. A report from the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) published last month found that more than 30 per cent of people who died within two weeks of release were released homeless. ‘Those who are the most vulnerable due to experiencing mental health and substance misuse issues made up many of those released homeless,’ it stated. ‘Our cases showed that some individuals were worried about being released into accommodation that might lead them back to substance misuse.’
The ombudsman investigation into 137 post-release deaths between September 2021 and December 2023 found that more than half of the people had died within the first four days of release, with more than 70 per cent of the deaths drug-related. Twenty of these drug-related deaths occurred on the first day of release, the report adds. ‘We know that prison leavers often have multiple risk factors,’ ombudsman Adrian Usher commented at the time. ‘However, more must be done by HM Prison and Probation Services and community service providers to ensure that vulnerable prisoners have the right support in place so they are released with suitable accommodation and to protect them from substance misuse on release.’
The government’s scheme to find accommodation for prison leavers housed 12,205 people between July 2021 and March this year. However, the Independent ‘understands that, due to difficulties finding beds in the private rental sector, the rollout was slower than hoped – with the scheme having only reached 70 per cent capacity in December and 85 per cent this month’.
‘The number of people leaving prison into homelessness has increased significantly in the past year,’ stated Nacro chief executive Campbell Robb. ‘This is on average 800 people a month who go straight from prison to homelessness, most of those are rough sleeping. The increase in homelessness is likely to be driven in part by the former government’s early release scheme, which saw people coming out early, too often without enough time to prepare.’
The data was a ‘clear warning’ to the new government ‘not to repeat the mistakes of the past’, he stated. ‘Immediate steps to tackle the prisons overcrowding crisis are necessary, but they must put in place special measures to house the thousands of extra people coming out of prison early in the autumn. Otherwise, they risk swapping the prisons crisis with a homelessness crisis. People are 50 per cent more likely to reoffend if they are homeless, so it is likely many people released early into homelessness will return to prison and the opportunity to free up space in the prison system will be wasted.’
Number of prisoners released into homelessness rises by a third in a year, despite new government scheme available here
Learning lessons bulletin issue 19: Post-release death investigations 2 available here