Whatever Happened to TTG?

Every probation officer that has ever been has known a very basic fact of life and that is nothing will work if someone doesn't have a settled place to live. It's not rocket science and during all the excitement of TR we all remember that TTG would supposedly deliver accommodation to every prison leaver. All bollocks of course, but Grayling promised it. 

It all makes me very angry because I know that under the old-style Probation Service regime, every Service developed housing projects often in partnership with a range of local organisations. This and much more was all destroyed by Grayling in the name of political ideology and the smoke and mirrors of TR and TTG.  

So here we are some seven years later, on the eve of yet another probation reorganisation and the latest HMI report confirms that many people leaving prison have nowhere to live:-

Foreword 

Having somewhere safe to live that one can call home is a basic human need. Without this it is difficult for probation to manage individuals safely or do effective rehabilitative work. Many individuals go into prison homeless and even more leave with nowhere to live; and the enhancement of Through the Gate services has yet to make any difference to the numbers in settled accommodation. The result is that those who are released homeless are significantly more likely to go on to reoffend and to return to prison. In the sample of cases we looked at, the proportion of service users recalled or resentenced to custody within 12 months of release was almost double for those without settled accommodation. There is currently no cross-government approach to housing offenders, which is needed to set accommodation in the context of a broader strategy to reduce reoffending. It is encouraging that Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has recently established a directorate to develop strategic work on accommodation, and we look forward to seeing improvements in service delivery. 

There are many barriers for individuals supervised by probation services to obtaining suitable, settled accommodation. These include a shortage of housing stock, delays in obtaining benefits, high up-front costs of renting, low priority on housing registers, insufficient support services, and providers who are averse to accommodating people with substantial criminal records. We were particularly disturbed by the high numbers of higher-risk prisoners being released into homelessness or unsettled accommodation. At least 22 per cent of NPS cases, by definition the highest risk individuals in the probation caseload, were released from prison without stable accommodation in 2018-2019 – equivalent to 6,515 individuals. And only 75 per cent of individuals supervised by the NPS were in settled accommodation 12 months after release.

Since the ending of the Supporting People programme, the availability of specialist supported accommodation and floating support services for offenders has greatly reduced. The scale of the challenge of assisting individuals to obtain and retain settled and suitable accommodation is huge, given the shortage of accommodation and the many barriers service users face, and requires considerable attention and resources in order to make progress. It also requires stronger partnerships at national and local levels to address the needs of homeless offenders. The separate structures of the National Probation Service (NPS) and Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) have weakened partnership work at local level; there is now an opportunity with the forthcoming unified model of offender management to ensure that this is resourced appropriately. 

Many prisoners are released from prisons that are not local to where they have lived. Design of resettlement services should form a bridge between the accommodation services available in the community and the accommodation tasks that can be delivered in custody. Many of those released homeless are serving very short prison sentences and were homeless prior to sentence. They require accommodation with support either as an alternative to prison or immediately on release, commissioned nationally or in partnership with local authorities. Housing authorities are improving the advice and assistance given to the homeless; future probation commissioning should focus on expanding access to housing and support to enable individuals to settle in accommodation. 

We found a few examples of where CRCs had established innovative relationships with accommodation providers, expanding access to good-quality accommodation. There were also promising examples of the NPS co-commissioning accommodation and achieving successful outcomes. A strategic approach to identifying and building on effective practice in this area is needed.

Many service users felt that probation services were unable to help them with their accommodation problems. Probation practitioners lack specific training in housing legislation and guidance, and pathways for enabling individuals to progress into settled accommodation are unclear. Many service users commented on the poor quality of the accommodation or felt unsafe where they were placed. Guidance for practitioners is needed on acceptable standards for accommodation placements. Finding and keeping somewhere safe to live is emotionally draining. Knowledgeable practitioners, in association with homelessness services, can guide and support individuals as they make these difficult journeys, providing motivation and encouragement to enable individuals to succeed. 

Justin Russell 

HM Chief Inspector of Probation

--oo00oo--

This from the Guardian:-

Thousands of high-risk offenders in UK 'freed into homelessness'

Thousands of high-risk convicted criminals, including those classed as violent and sexual offenders, were being released from prison in England into homelessness, increasing the likelihood of their reoffending, inspectors warned.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) said in a report that it was “particularly disturbed” to find that at least 3,713 people supervised by the National Probation Service, which is responsible for high-risk offenders, had left prison and become homeless from 2018 to 2019. Ministry of Justice figures show 11,435 people were released from prison into homelessness in 2018-19, and 4,742 homeless people started community sentences in the same period. The inspectors said this widespread homelessness was jeopardising the rehabilitation of offenders.

The chief inspector of probation, Justin Russell, said the case of the serial rapist Joseph McCann highlighted the importance of appropriate housing for high-risk offenders. The probation services had been unable to find McCann a bed in approved premises on two occasions and he had ended up in unsuitable housing that did not facilitate close monitoring and management.

Russell said: “Many individuals are homeless when they enter prison and even more are when they leave. Individuals need a safe place to call home, it gives them a solid foundation on which to build crime-free lives. It is difficult for probation services to protect the public and support rehabilitation if individuals are not in stable accommodation. A stable address helps individuals to resettle back into the community, to find work, open a bank account, claim benefits and access local services.”

Russell has called for the Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to develop a national cross-government strategy addressing the housing needs of offenders.

In all, 116 offenders released from prison were studied for the inspection report on accommodation and support for adult offenders in the community and on release from prison in England. Twelve months later 17% were found to be still homeless and a further 15% remained in unsettled accommodation. For former prisoners released to settled accommodation, the number of those recalled or re-sentenced to custody was almost half that of those who did not have such accommodation upon release, the report said.

Many offender-specific schemes have closed or been merged with generic homelessness services where higher-risk individuals, such as those with convictions for sexual offences or arson, were less likely to be accepted, the inspectors said. The report warns of “many substantial barriers to obtaining settled accommodation” for offenders.

HMIP said that most offenders did not have priority on the housing register, and some were excluded because of previous behaviour, rent arrears, being classed as “intentionally homeless”, or being without a local connection, while some social housing providers excluded “risky” service users.

“Overwhelmingly, we heard from service users that homelessness is tough, it is mentally and physically draining, often coexisting with similarly draining issues such as substance misuse and mental ill-health. We heard how some find it easier to be in prison than navigate housing services following release,” the report says.

The shadow justice secretary, David Lammy, said: “By failing to provide adequate housing, the government is setting up former offenders to fail. It is inevitable that some released from prison will fall back into crime if they have no option but to live on the streets. This creates more victims of crime, as well as greater expense to the tax payer as they end up back in prison. To break the cycle of re-offence for former prisoners, the government urgently needs to address the housing crisis, as well as re-investing in a proper, publicly-funded probation service.”

The inspectors visited probation services in Northamptonshire, Cleveland, London, and Essex, across both publicly-run and privately-run providers.

Peter Dawson, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: “No amount of good work in prison will achieve rehabilitation if the basics of support after release are ignored. If the government is serious about both rehabilitation and public protection it must take this opportunity to invest in a coherent plan. Spending billions on new prisons but peanuts on accommodation for the people they release is obviously futile.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Having a safe and secure place to live is a crucial factor in cutting reoffending, and the probation service works closely with councils to fulfil its duty to help prison leavers into stable accommodation. Since this review we have also introduced new teams dedicated to finding housing, are increasing spaces in approved premises, and our £6.4m pilot – part of the government’s rough sleeping strategy – has helped hundreds of offenders stay off the streets. We are also reviewing our referral process to help prevent homelessness.”