We recognise that many prison leavers rely on the benefits system to ensure they are able to pay for accommodation and living costs upon release from custody. We are working with the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure prisoners can access Universal Credit as soon as possible on release.<\/p>
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We do not, however, hold data on the proportion of prisoners who leave custody each month who (a) are eligible for universal credit or (b) apply for that benefit at the point of their release from prison centrally and this information could only be obtained at disproportionate costs.<\/p>
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Although the data is not directly comparable, statistics from the 2013 MoJ/DWP/HMRC data share suggested that demand for out-of-work benefits is high. The report found that over half of offenders released from prison were claiming out-of-work benefits one month after release and that two-thirds of working age offenders claimed at least one out-of-work benefit at some point in the two years following their conviction/caution or release from prison in 2010/2011.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4517", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lucy Frazer"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "South East Cambridgeshire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lucy Frazer"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-10-28", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-10-28T17:25:44.357Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-10-18", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Prisoners' Release: Universal Credit"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the proportion of prisoners who leave custody each month who (a) are eligible for universal credit and (b) apply for that benefit at the point of their release from prison.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3969", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Damian Hinds"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "East Hampshire"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Damian Hinds"} ], "uin" : "1902"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1150692", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1150692/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Ministry of Justice and Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) ministers regularly meet, the last time being in July 2019, and will meet again soon. In the July meeting, both departments were keen to progress work to better prepare prisoners for release, including improving access to Universal Credit.<\/p>
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The DWP has piloted a number of changes that will support offenders making claims prior to release. We are working closely with the DWP to take forward the learning from these pilots. One area that the pilots highlighted was the important role that dedicated DWP Prison Work Coaches play in our prison system to ensure access to Universal Credit. We continue to work with DWP to help support these work coaches, and to ensure they have both the right physical environment and information on and access to prisoners required for efficient working.<\/p>
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In July 2019, we published the National Partnership Agreement with the DWP. This sets out how the departments will collaborate to improve access to Universal Credit for prison leavers to ensure they have timely access to financial support on release.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4517", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lucy Frazer"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "South East Cambridgeshire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lucy Frazer"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-10-28", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-10-28T17:26:32.23Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-10-18", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Prisoners' Release: Universal Credit"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on arrangements for prisoners to apply for universal credit (a) prior to and (b) no later than their release from custody.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3969", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Damian Hinds"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "East Hampshire"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Damian Hinds"} ], "uin" : "1903"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 2, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }