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<p>The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is committed to preventing homelessness and works
closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and
the Welsh Government to do so. Prisons and probation have a statutory duty to refer
someone at risk of homelessness to a local authority for assistance, and we have worked
closely with DLUHC on the design and delivery of their Accommodation for Ex-Offenders
scheme. We have set up a Cross-Whitehall Accommodation Board, attended by officials
from MoJ, HMPPS, Welsh Government and DLUHC, to ensure collaboration across policy
and operational areas.</p><p>In July 2021, we launched our groundbreaking Community
Accommodation Service Tier-3, to guarantee up to 12-weeks temporary accommodation
to prison leavers subject to probation supervision who are at risk of homelessness
on release, including those released under the End of Custody Supervised Licence measure.
From July 2023 the service was expanded across all probation regions in England and
Wales and continues to bring new beds online as the service embeds.</p><p>In 2022-23,
86% of prison leavers were in accommodation on their first night of release from custody.</p>
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