Recommendation 36

In April 2020, the Chief Inspector of Prisons similarly found that, within local prisons, resettlement assessments and planning for release had been limited as a result of COVID-19. It found that good efforts had been made to address accommodation needs at several prisons and few prisoners were released homeless. However, it was clear that for many prisoners the only provision was short-term, emergency accommodation that was often found only on the day of release. It also heard of one instance where proactive work by the health care department in liaison with a community housing provider had ensured that temporary accommodation was found for a man who had recently recovered from COVID-19 who would otherwise have been released homeless.84 82 IPE0007 - Improving the prison estate, Professor Loraine Gelsthorpe (Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice, Director of the Institute of Criminology at Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge) 1 July 2020 83 Qq 22–26 84 HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Report on short scrutiny visits to Local prisons, 28 April 2020 22 Improving the prison estate