Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 10
Seventy-Eighth Report - Resettlement support for prison leavers
Published 11 Nov 2023
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Improving resettlement support for prison leavers All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The continuity of prison leavers’ drug treatment in the community has remained low for many years. In 2021–22, 37% of prison leavers in England with a substance misuse treatment referral were engaged in community-based treatment three weeks after release (38.1% in 2020–21).23 We questioned whether HMPPS was providing enough support to prisoners with substance misuse needs prior to their release. MoJ told us it has 50 incentivised substance-free living units established in prisons, which will increase to 100 units by March 2025. MoJ also secured £120 million over the next three years under the government’s 10-year drug plan, which it told us will be used to improve data and better co-ordinate pre- and post-release support for substance misuse.24 We asked how much of HMPPS’ work is focused on harm reductions, such as drug replacements, as opposed to recovery and abstinence. HMPPS told us that this balance is determined by clinicians from NHSE and the Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC). HMPPS told us that the treatment options offered to an individual can depend on the length of their prison sentence.25
From: Public Accounts Committee, Seventy-Eighth Report - Resettlement support for prison leavers (HC 1329), 11 November 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 14 February 2024 (deadline 11 January 2024).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government says it agrees with each of the Committee's recommendations on resettlement support for prison leavers, giving target dates for several of them.
- On inequalities, HMPPS is planning a programme of work to understand disparities in resettlement outcomes, and says that "By April 2025" it will deliver this analysis across prioritised thematic areas.
- On an action plan, HMPPS will "respond to the Committee by the six-month deadline" and says its plan will aim for "an adequate and consistent resettlement service" for all prison leavers by April 2025.
- On substance misuse, MoJ and the Department of Health and Social Care will develop a proposal on metrics, and the government says it will publish these metrics routinely, with a target implementation date of summer 2024.
- On evaluation, impact evaluations are "expected to be complete" by summer 2024, though findings on impact for some initiatives will only be available beyond 2024.