The House of Lords today debated the effectiveness of partnership working between prisons and local housing authorities in preventing homelessness and rough sleeping among prisoners released early. Bishop Helen-Ann, while praising the work of local agencies in Northumberland, posed the question about how we assess their effectiveness. Read Bishop Helen-Ann's speech here:
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Farmer, for bringing this topic to our attention today and pay tribute to him for his tireless work in this area of concern. It is an honour to follow the noble lady, Baroness Bottomley.
The North East, where I live, offers both encouragement and challenge to the theme of our debate today. HMP Northumberland, Northumberland County Council, probation services and voluntary organisations have developed strong partnerships to improve resettlement. Those partnerships deserve recognition, but they also raise an important question: how are we assessing their effectiveness?
Success should not simply be measured by whether a referral has been made or a duty fulfilled. It should be measured by outcomes. As other noble Lords have said, did someone leave prison with suitable accommodation? Were they still housed weeks and months later? Did they avoid rough sleeping? Were they able to access healthcare, treatment for substance misuse and, where appropriate, employment and training?
These outcomes are closely connected. Homelessness rarely exists in isolation. It intersects with poor mental health, addiction, unemployment and social exclusion. Nacro’s recent report, Reducing Deaths Among Prison Leavers, reminds us of the human consequences. It found that people released from prison in the North East are around six times more likely to die from a drug-related cause within two weeks of release than those released in the East of England. While the report makes clear that this disparity cannot be explained by homelessness alone, it underlines the importance of viewing housing as part of a wider resettlement pathway rather than as a stand-alone intervention.
There is also a strong economic case for getting this right. Preventing homelessness at the point of release reduces pressure on emergency accommodation, health services, the criminal justice system and local authorities. Stable housing provides the foundation on which recovery, family relationships and employment can be rebuilt. Without that foundation, the risk of reoffending and repeated crisis increases significantly. Partnership working should therefore be viewed not simply as good practice, but as a sound investment in safer communities, better public services and better outcomes for individuals seeking to make a fresh start after prison.
Early release makes this even more challenging because it compresses the time available to coordinate housing, healthcare and community support. That makes effective partnership working more important than ever. Organisations such as the Oswin Project in Northumberland with their excellent café in Newcastle Cathedral show what can be achieved when employment support, mentoring and rehabilitation are integrated with housing, but these initiatives depend on timely planning and sustained collaboration.
Nacro has called for a clear plan to halve the proportion of people leaving prison who are homeless by 2029. I hope the Government will not only pursue that ambition but also set out how success will be measured. What indicators will be used to assess whether partnership working is preventing homelessness and rough sleeping? How will outcomes be monitored for those released early? And how will examples of effective practice, such as those emerging in the North East, be identified, evaluated and shared more widely?
Ultimately, the measure of success is not whether agencies worked together, but whether people leaving prison are able to rebuild stable, healthy and productive lives.
In conclusion, can the noble Lord the Minister ensure that any measures around the effectiveness of partnership working include regional outcomes, so that we can understand both what is working in areas such as the North East and where further support is needed?