Number of prisoners released into homelessness rises by a third in a year, despite new government scheme

The number of people released from prison into homelessness has risen 30 per cent in a year despite a major new scheme to house departing offenders, The Independent can reveal.

New government figures laying bare the dire state of prisons in England and Wales outline record levels of self-harm, soaring violence and worsening overcrowding in what campaigners have dubbed a “crisis of human misery behind bars”.

With the previous government freeing over 10,000 prisoners up to 70 days early since October in an urgent bid to free up space, analyses of the latest Ministry of Justice figures by this publication and the charity Nacro found the number of inmates left homeless has soared – risking a “revolving door” back into prison.

The new data shows 9,210 inmates were released into homelessness or rough sleeping in the year to March, rising from 7,055 the previous year – accounting for 13.1 per cent of all 70,000 prison releases, up from 11.3 per cent the previous year.

This included 755 women, a rise of 38 per cent on the previous year. The number of people released into other unsettled or transient accommodation – such as temporarily living with friends or family – also rose from 7,725 to 9,565 over the same period.

Experts said the rise was partly due to the “chaotic” early release scheme and warned homelessness raises the risk of reoffending by around 50 per cent – confounding efforts to free up prison cells.

Inspectors recently highlighted the case of a high-risk prisoner with a recent history of suicidal thoughts and self-harm, who was released from segregation into homelessness under the early release scheme despite staff appealing against it. He was recalled to prison just days later.

For some, prison is better than rough sleeping. Two former inmates described reoffending in order to return to jail “because at least I had support and a bed”. They feared ending up in an even worse situation on the streets.

The prisons ombudsman recently investigated the deaths of more than 100 people in the fortnight after they left jail between 2021 and 2023 – and found that a third had been released straight onto the streets.

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The stark rise in homelessness comes despite the rollout of a new scheme to ensure those released on probation are given 12 weeks of accommodation. This was fully operational by November after first being rolled out in five regions back in July 2021.

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 scheme, which doesn’t cover prisoners on remand, housed 12,205 people between July 2021 and March.

Frontline experts warn the situation often merely “kicks the can down the road” for those who do receive help, only to be forced to live on the streets after their 12 weeks of accommodation has finished.

The percentage of people left homeless three months after leaving prison rose from 6.7 to 9 per cent year-on-year – an additional 1,000 people in the 12 months to March.

Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, said the new scheme is “absolutely the right priority” but that the “concerning rise” in homelessness highlights the urgency of this task, and that “more support is needed for its success”.

With jails currently at 99 per cent capacity, the new government has announced a new scheme to free some 5,500 people 40 per cent of the way into their sentences from September – a process which experts hope will allow more time for pre-release planning than the current emergency scheme.

But Ms Sinha warned that reoffending will only be reduced once ex-inmates are “set up for success” with housing and sufficient support. The new data shows 7,415 people were recalled to jail between January and March, some for breaching licence conditions related to having no stable address.

One former inmate who has been to prison six times said he was forced to sleep rough or in a tent several times after being released. He said: “It was horrible, it was summer but it was still cold, it was freezing. I felt like I had no purpose. I was getting up just to walk round all day, and the days felt like forever.

“I didn’t know what to do. Some people actually feel prison is a better alternative and do go back to committing crime, and to be honest I did too.”

Another man described sleeping “in all sorts of places, the local park, abandoned buildings, wherever I could find”, saying it was “always the same – a few nights out, maybe clean, then it gets overwhelming, and I would find a way of getting myself back in prison”.

He said that being housed by the charity Nacro upon his recent release “has made all the difference in the world”.

Calling the new figures “a clear warning to the new government not to repeat the mistakes of the past”, Nacro chief executive Campbell Rob warned that ministers “risk swapping the prisons crisis with a homelessness crisis” without special measures to house the thousands of additional prisoners set to be freed this autumn.

Sian Williams, chief executive of the charity Switchback, added: “Having a stable address is often the bedrock of mental health, sustainable employment, and obtaining practical support – all of which are crucial to people trying to live life differently.”

The charity said seven in 10 young men it currently supports had left prison homeless, and is calling for a national framework which provides first-night accommodation and a minimum standard of support to access housing for every person leaving prison.

Andrew Neilson, of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said the new data shows how dysfunctional the criminal justice system has become, “and how that dysfunction spreads into the community”.

He added: “The new administration has announced a more consistent programme of early release, that will allow services to better support individuals as they are moving into the community. But ultimately we need investment in housing, rather than building new prisons, if we are to find a lasting solution to this problem.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Our prisons are in crisis, which is putting significant pressure on the whole justice system.

“We know stable accommodation on release has a huge impact on cutting crime. That’s why the lord chancellor’s recent measures ensure probation services have time to prepare for an offender’s release. This protects the public and helps offenders stay on the straight and narrow when they leave prison.”