Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Recommendation 43
43
Accepted
Paragraph: 225
Publish rollout schedule for short sentence function, detailing support for women's resettlement and success measurement.
Recommendation
Women on short sentences face significant challenges regarding resettlement. We welcome the introduction of the short sentence function; however, it is not clear how this works in practice to address the needs of female offenders on short sentences. We note that there have been early adopters of this function, and learning from this will inform the longer-term approach. The MoJ and HMPPS should set out when this function will be rolled out across all probation regions, and what work the Short Sentence Team will undertake to support women to resettle successfully back into the community and how success will be measured.
Government Response Summary
The government accepts the recommendation, stating a new performance measure will be introduced in 2023 for pre-release assessments for those with short sentences. Short Sentence Functions will involve staff working directly with people on probation, including pre-release teams in women’s prisons, and success will be measured by monitoring compliance, reduced enforcement, and improved accommodation outcomes.
Paragraph Reference:
225
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
We accept this recommendation. A new performance measure will be introduced during 2023 for a pre-release assessment to be completed for people with 10 months or less to serve at point of sentence. The performance measure will provide assurance that pre-release planning is taking place. The Short Sentence Functions will consist of staff who will work with all people on probation with 10 months or less to serve in prison. This will enable them to be fast tracked and offered direct engagement. The delivery of short sentence support work for women will be done by pre-release teams embedded within women’s prisons who will provide the link between the woman in prison and her Community Offender Manager (COM) and Commissioned Rehabilitative Services (CRS) provider in her home area. All sentenced people (including those on short term sentences) are eligible for support from specialist providers, including accommodation specialists. They will receive support prior to release to address their identified needs, including sustaining tenancies as appropriate. This will enable them to be fast tracked and offered direct engagement. It will ensure better connection with a hard to reach/engage group with high levels of recidivism. Success will be measured by monitoring improved levels of compliance and reduced rates of enforcement action. We would expect to see an improvement on accommodation outcomes. Work to sustain tenancies has the potential to improve number leaving prison retaining their accommodation where appropriate to do so.