Despite warnings that Britain’s crowded prisons could run out of spaces, inmates eligible for early release remain in prison as finding approved homes is difficult due to a lack of joined-up services.
Lawyers and campaign groups have warned the problem is set to become worse with the number of prisoners eligible for release under house arrest having been expanded by the Government last year.
“Some prisoners won’t be able to make use of these new arrangements. This is because HDC is discretionary and subject to the prison leaver having an approved and suitable address.”
She said: “One of my clients was eligible for early release on tag from a Mother and Baby Unit but had nowhere to live. She was a model prisoner but could not take full advantage of HDC because she did not have a home.
“There is a social housing shortage. Prison leavers face huge barriers to accessing social housing from inside prison because they don’t have access to email, and they struggle to do online applications and interviews.”
A relaxation of the rules for home release means eligible prisoners can be freed with electronic tags after 20 per cent of their sentence, having previously had to serve at least 25 per cent, and no longer need to be serving a sentence of less than four years to be eligible.
Dr Janes’s client was eventually released into accommodation run by Hope Street, a charity-run residential scheme for women leaving prison.
Janey Starling, co-director of the campaign group Level Up, which is calling for an end to prison sentences for pregnant women and mothers, said: “Home release only works if prison leavers are provided with stable home to go to.
A HM Prison and Probation Service spokesperson said: “Release on Home Detention Curfew requires a prisoner to have suitable accommodation to go to as they are tagged and required to reside there overnight under curfew.
“We provide support to prisoners at risk of being homeless on release, including offering them temporary accommodation and working with local authorities. We also work with other partners to find them stable homes critical to cutting their risk of reoffending.”
‘I feared being separated from my baby’
26-year-old mother of one Sam* struggled to find suitable accommodation for her home release.
“I went to prison when I was six months’ pregnant. Giving birth in prison was scary and the worry that I might not be able to keep my baby was extremely stressful – I cannot even find the words to explain how stressful it was.
“I was allowed to keep my baby with me in the end, but the stress did not stop there. My sentence meant I was entitled to early home release on tag. That was stressful because if I got my early release then, due to her age, we could be certain of staying together.
“But as my daughter reached the Mother and Baby Unit age limit of 18 months between my early release date and my automatic release date, there was a risk we would be separated if I didn’t find a secure home.
“Although I was entitled to housing as a priority because of my baby, any address I was going to move to when I was released from prison had to be approved by probation, and that was dependent on checks and assessments done by the police and children’s social care.
“It proved impossible for these checks to be done in time for each address that the housing department identified for me. The housing team wouldn’t hold the properties for long enough for those checks to happen, so places kept falling through. It meant my baby and I ended up staying in the prison for much longer than we should have.
“The same issues applied to properties offered by a prison service-linked housing scheme. In the end, my solicitor got in touch with a charity she knew, and they were able to suggest another voluntary-sector provider who ran specialist housing for women in my position.
“If they didn’t exist, and if the other charity hadn’t joined up the dots, I might still be in prison. I might even have been separated from my baby.
“I don’t know why there isn’t someone whose job it is to make sure women, and their babies can get into safe, supported housing when they leave prison. It seems so obvious, but without my solicitor and a charity it wouldn’t have happened.”
*name changed to protect identity
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