Communities and tackling poverty minister Lesley Griffiths hails a scheme aimed at preventing homelessness among people leaving custody.
Last December we introduced an innovative and forward thinking scheme where people who are facing homelessness when leaving prison, receive better support to improve their access to a secure home, rather than staying in bed and breakfast accommodation.
I am proud to say the National Pathway for Homelessness Services to Children, Young People and Adults in the Secure Estate is the first of its kind in the UK and is greatly improving the way organisations are working with prison leavers.
The Pathway addresses the requirements of the Welsh Government’s ground breaking Housing (Wales) Act, which came into force in April 2015. The Act brought about the most fundamental reform to homelessness legislation in over 30 years, placing a duty on local authorities to work with people who are facing homelessness at a far earlier stage to help find a solution to their housing needs.
The National Pathway was developed after extensive consultation with organisations including Shelter Cymru and the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA). It pays particular attention to the needs of people leaving custody to prevent them from becoming homeless, thereby improving their resettlement into society and reducing their risk of reoffending.
Prisoners facing homelessness receive support 56 days before their release. The Pathway also clarifies the roles and responsibilities of all agencies and organisations involved in the process, resulting in a more coordinated approach with better support for people leaving custody.
In Wales, our hard work and the forward thinking approach we have taken to preventing homelessness has been recognised and praised by housing experts across the UK. Just last month, housing and social policy professor Suzanne Fitzpatrick from Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh praised the work we are doing in Wales. Professor Fitzpatrick acknowledged the Welsh Government has instituted legislation that is more progressive than anywhere else in the UK, stating we are at the forefront of homelessness policy development.
The National Pathway continues to do just this. It puts us ahead of the rest of the UK in terms of our efforts to prevent prison-leavers from becoming homeless or ending up in B&Bs.
I am pleased to say sign-up to the Pathway is progressing well, with 20 of Wales’ 22 Local Authorities having already registered, whilst the remaining two are positively working towards sign up in the coming weeks.
The Pathway is already demonstrating some very encouraging results. An early study of people accessing homelessness services via the Pathway prior to leaving HMP Parc found the majority of prison-leavers were placed back into settled accommodation. This is a positive step as the majority of people leaving prison previously were placed in temporary accommodation.
Although these are early days, the figures indicate positive early signs. This is largely due to the commitment shown by the Wales Community Rehabilitation Company, youth offending teams and local authorities. I have been pleased to hear how they have been working together to improve the life chances of people leaving custody and reduce the instances of young people being placed in B&Bs.
The director of National Offender Management Service in Wales, Sarah Payne, is supporting the Pathway. I look forward to meeting with her later this month to discuss implementation and ways of continuing the excellent working relationships that have been developed since the launch of the Pathway in December.
Every person who enters a Welsh prison will be provided with information about the Pathway and informed of what support is available if they do not have anywhere stable to live on leaving the secure estate. We are also producing information for private landlords to help them understand how the new probation services will ensure they have support when accommodating an ex-offender. Presently, too many landlords have a blanket policy of not considering any prison leavers and I hope the new safeguards which are in place as a result of the Pathway will encourage them to reconsider this approach and offer stable accommodation to those who need it.
There is no doubt a stable accommodation situation is a key factor in helping to break the cycle of offending, but it is just one element of a successful resettlement and I am pleased to see a range of agencies continuing to work together to achieve the same goal. I look forward to seeing the good work continue over the coming months.