PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Prisoners' Release: Universal Credit (18 October 2019)

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.

Asked by:
Damian Hinds (Conservative)

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.

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.

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.

Answered by:
Lucy Frazer (Conservative)
28 October 2019