Thousands of people leaving prison have nowhere to live

The Scottish Liberal Democrats have called for throughcare support to be expanded after it was revealed that thousands of people leaving prison have nowhere to live and are having to register with councils as homeless.

Freedom of information requests by the party revealed that local authorities received 3,814 homeless applications in the last two years from people identified as leaving prison, suggesting that around 20% of those released have to turn to this.

The well-established link between reoffending and the lack of a stable and affordable home was highlighted earlier this year, when the HM Inspectorate of Prisons reported “I see too many people who on their day of liberation do not know where they will be living” and that a clear consequence of this is that it can cause them to reoffend.

Throughcare sees support provided prior to release and continue seamlessly once people are back in the community, helping with housing, healthcare and benefits. An independent evaluation conducted in 2017 found that 78% of prisoners who received throughcare had not returned to custody.

Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Liam McArthur MSP has called for throughcare to be extended to all, instead of only being statutory for those serving sentences of four years or more.

Liam McArthur said: “These new figures show thousands of people are being sent on their way with nowhere stable to live. That’s disgraceful and irresponsible because we know this vastly increases the chance of their reoffending and undoing the good work done while they are in prison.

“Every single person should have seamless help with housing, employment and healthcare. If they end up re-offending to get a warm bed for the night or food for dinner then that is an appalling failure.

“Inspectors have previously uncovered that a third of people at one institution didn’t have an address to go to on release. Another report found someone who slept in a tent for eight weeks before deliberately shoplifting to go back to prison for the sake of a roof over their head.

“The system clearly isn’t up to scratch. If the Scottish Government is serious about reintegrating people into society and curbing the bloated prison population, authorities need to be conscious of what happens to them after they leave.

“The Justice Secretary needs to take heed of this pressing problem, take responsibility for the circumstances people are released into and expand and invest in throughcare for all. Avoid people falling through the gaps will always pay dividends compared to the cost of their reoffending.”

The results of freedom of information requests by the Scottish Liberal Democrats are as follows:

Council area

Apps

Identifiable from prison

% of all apps received

Timeframe

Aberdeen

3253

137

4.2

July 16 – June 18

Aberdeenshire

1848

85

4.6

July 16 – June 18

Angus

1843

74

4.0

July 16 – June 18

Argyll and Bute

994

46

4.6

July 16 – June 18

Clacks

1,005

54

5.4

July 16 – June 18

Dumfries + Gall

2,669

224

8.4

16-17; 17 - 18

Dundee City

2,689

224

8.3

Apr 16 – March 18

East Ayrshire

1,271

123

9.7

July 16 – June 18

East Dun.

950

19

2.0

July 16 – June 18

East Lothian

1,550

26

1.7

July 16 – June 18

East Ren.

648

23

3.5

Aug 16 – Jul 18

Edinburgh

6,765

223

3.3

July 16 – June 18

Falkirk

2,155

9

0.4

Aug 16 – Jun 18

Fife

4,800

340

7.1

July 16 – June 18

Glasgow

10,131

931

9.2

July 16 – June 18

Highland

1,382

90

6.5

July 16 – June 18

Inverclyde

139

25

18.0

July 16 – June 18

Midlothian

1,072

24

2.2

July 16 – June 18

Moray

1,119

42

3.8

July 16 – June 18

North Ayrshire

1769

182

10.3

July 16 – June 18

North Lan.

4180

113

2.7

July 16 – June 18

Orkney

8

0

0

Apr 16 – July 18

Perth

1,825

120

6.6

16-17; 17 - 18

Renfrewshire

1,686

200

11.9

July 16 – June 18

Scottish Borders

1,440

60

4.2

July 16 – June 18

Shetland

281

7

2.5

16-17; 17 - 18

South Ayrshire

1,495

111

7.4

Apr 16 – Mar 18

South Lan.

4,358

105

2.4

July 16 – June 18

Stirling

1,252

85

6.8

July 16 – June 18

West Dun.

2,182

81

3.7

16-17; 17 - 18

West Lothian

2931

25

0.9

July 16 – June 18

Western Isles

220

6

2.7

July 16 – June 18

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