Recommendation 2

We are concerned that government is not doing enough to support prisoners with substance misuse needs before they are released. Despite the previous Committee’s recommendations in 2017, HMPPS and NHS England have been slow to improve the collection and sharing of prison leavers’ data, limiting their ability to provide appropriate support and monitor outcomes. This lack of progress puts the successful resettlement of offenders with substance misuse needs at risk. HMPPS is working on ways to improve data sharing around substance misuse through initiatives such as the Probation Notification Actioning Plan, which will enable drug treatment providers in prisons to notify the Probation Service of referrals they have made to providers in the community. However, support in prisons still lacks consistency, with treatment options often dependent on the length of prison stay. We are concerned that HMPPS and the relevant health bodies involved in resettlement do not seem to have a consistent definition of success when measuring outcomes for substance misuse. Substance misuse is also the only area where the Cross-Government Reducing Reoffending Board has not agreed key responsibilities or performance reporting arrangements. Recommendation 2: The Cross-Government Reducing Reoffending Board should agree metrics to measure end-to-end success in treating substance misuse needs in offenders and routinely publish how it is performing against these metrics. 6 Resettlement support for prison leavers