Early release puts strain on housing, says council

Prisoners being released early is one of the biggest pressures that housing and homelessness services face, a council has said.

Cardiff council said it received mixed reports "every other day" about how many prison leavers it would have to support with already under-strain services.

With temporary accommodation across the city already full, it is looking to purchase a hotel, student accommodation, and a house of multiple occupations to provide people with homes.

This comes after the Labour government implemented plans to tackle overcrowding in prisons, releasing 1,700 convicts in England and Wales on 10 September.

Cardiff council cabinet member for housing Lynda Thorne questioned the decision by the prison service to release all of the prisoners on the same day.

She said: "I don’t know why they can’t [do it] in one or two a day over three months rather than all in one day.

"It has got to be easier for the prison service, for probation and certainly for us."

Cardiff has the second highest number of expected releases across England and Wales under the SDS40 scheme, according to Cardiff council.

It said it had to support 11 prison leavers with housing in a single day on 10 September.

Cardiff council’s director of adults, housing and communities, Jane Thomas, said: "They [prison leavers] were risk assessed and placed in appropriate placements.

"[In] the run up, the information was very misleading I think it is true to say.

"We had various different reports because obviously the probation service were also having to deal with this really quickly."

She said the probation service was providing them with "different lists every other day" but that they "got there in the end".

The council is expecting to deal with more released prisoners on 22 October - but it is unable to say yet how many it will have to support.

If it goes ahead with the purchase of the three properties it is in negotiations for, 280 units could be used to house people needing accommodation.

There are currently about 8,000 people on Cardiff council’s housing waiting list.

Acceleration of decision making on asylum applications is also expected to bring more pressure on the council’s homelessness service.

Many asylum seekers have already been living in Cardiff for a number of years, but they will be entitled to seek support with housing from the council if they are granted leave to remain in the country.