Committees

Support for ex-offenders inquiry launched

7 March 2016

The Work and Pensions Committee launches an inquiry into the benefits and employment support available to offenders when they leave prison, to ease the transition into work and a return to normal life.

Ex-offenders: barriers to employment

Ex-offenders face a number of barriers to work on leaving prison, but inability to find paid work can have all kinds of knock on effects including becoming homeless. 

Joint research by the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Work and Pensions shows that ex-prisoners who gain formal employment on release are less likely to re-offend than similar prisoners who do not find work.

Yet their research also showed that less than a third (29%) of prisoners had been in paid employment at some point during the first two years after their release from prison, with only 15% identified as working at the two year mark.

Call for written submissions

The Committee invites evidence to enable it to assess the support available to individuals when they leave prison, and recommend improvements to policy that will help ex-offenders reintegrate into society effectively.

Written submissions are invited addressing the following points:

  • How are prisoners helped to find employment; is support available both pre and post-release?
  • What benefit payments are available on discharge from prison and how long does it take to access those benefits?
  • Do the employment and education programs available in prisons prepare prisoners for formal employment?
  • What support do offenders receive to help them find suitable accommodation on leaving prison?
  • What are the impacts of factors such as homelessness and unemployment on the propensity to re-offend?
  • How does benefit and employment support integrate with other services for ex-offenders?
  • Is there specific support for different groups such as young offenders and female offenders?
  • What recommendations should be made to improve support for ex-offenders?

Send your written submission through the Support for ex-offenders inquiry page.

The deadline for written submissions is Friday, 22 April 2016.

Committee comments

Karen Buck MP, Committee Member, said:

"Once offenders have served their sentence, it is in society's interests to ensure their effective rehabilitation. The transition out of the criminal justice system and into shelter, income and employment is critical- yet in my experience that transition is often far from smooth. Delayed or inadequate payments can leave people with no income at a critical time, and this can in turn can lead to homelessness and all the risks associated with that. I hope this inquiry will give us an opportunity to look at good practice as well as hear about how the system can be improved not just for the sake of ex-offenders but for the sake of the communities into which they return."

Rt Hon Frank Field MP, Chair of the Committee, said:

"Having no chance of landing a job, let alone a decently paid job, is a major factor in reoffending. It's difficult to find accommodation unless you can prove that you are a working tenant, so lack of work can also easily lead to homelessness.  We hope to help the Government devise a system that minimises the risk of ex-offenders leaving prison for a workless or homeless existence."

Further information

Image: iStockphoto