Early release prisoners facing street homelessness, probation staff warn

Charities say situation exposes ‘fatal flaw’ in Andy Burnham’s plan to end rough sleeping in England by Christmas

In just four days James is facing the prospect of sleeping on the street. He was released from prison in August and given temporary probation accommodation in Somerset, but that is about to expire and he has nowhere to go.

“It is scary,” the 37-year-old said. “I am not asking for special treatment. But literally nowhere wants to help – I have contacted MPs, solicitors, probation and the council. I am quite tempted to just get myself recalled to prison because it is November. It is cold.”

Charities and probation staff have said that prisoners are at risk of being released into street homelessness, exposing a “fatal flaw” in Andy Burnham’s plan to try to end rough sleeping in England by Christmas.

With hundreds of prisoners being released early in England and Wales to try to ease prison overcrowding, there are concerns the number sleeping rough could start to rise just as the weather turns cold.

Tania Bassett, from Napo, the trade union for probation staff, said most housing options were already full after the early release of prisoners in October, and there were major concerns about how they would house the next tranche of releases on 10 November.

“There is this juxtaposition of releasing people into homelessness at the same time as Andy Burnham is saying we’re going to solve rough sleeping,” she said. “I think there is an assumption that probation can magically bring up houses for people to move into. But there is very little available and it is a big concern for our members.”

She said one member had been trying to find housing for 10 people who were released on 1 October, and many staff reported feeling overwhelmed. Andy Keen-Downs, chief executive of the Prison Advice and Care Trust (Pact), said: “Every single day we are seeing men and women coming back to prison because they did not make their probation appointment. And when we ask why, they say, ‘Well, I was sleeping on a bit of cardboard’. That is still the daily reality.”

James said everyone he had met since living in the probation hostel had been released without an address, with many people sleeping in cars and on benches. He has a number of medical conditions, including epilepsy and PTSD, but has been denied temporary accommodation from Somerset council and has also been rejected from probation housing.

He has two electronic tags – a GPS tracker that needs to be charged daily and an alcohol monitoring tag that needs to remain connected to a communication device. “How am I supposed to comply with these requirements while sleeping rough without reliable electricity or somewhere safe to put the equipment? Nobody has given me a satisfactory answer,” he said.

The government has introduced a “presumption of electronic tagging” for offenders released early, but Bassett said this could not happen if there was a high level of homelessness.