Welfare Reform Bill

My Lords, I have listened with interest to the noble Lord’s remarks and acknowledge his expertise on penal policy. I can also say that I am utterly delighted to meet the noble Lord. I can say now that I do not accept his amendments and I hope that what I describe of what we are actually doing will leave him joyful, both after what I describe here and after our meeting, which will happen as soon as we can. I believe that the route that we are going down will prove more beneficial in the long run than what he has suggested in this amendment, which is more expensive and resource-intensive, in terms of in-prison assessments. The logic of this amendment is that the sooner ex-offenders can get themselves on a sound financial footing, the better they can settle back into life outside prison or detention and, hopefully, a crime-free existence. I agree utterly with this principle. We are actively pursuing projects to achieve this. On 16 August, the Deputy Prime Minister announced that the Government’s coalition agreement had a commitment to create a rehabilitation revolution by, "““introducing more effective sentencing policies, as well as overhauling the system of rehabilitation to reduce re-offending and provide much greater support and protection for the victims of crime””." The DWP’s primary interest in this cross-government work to reduce reoffending is to increase employment outcomes for ex-offenders and prison leavers. Evidence suggests that individuals who are in employment are between one-third and one-half less likely to reoffend. Most prison leavers have much greater difficulty in finding and retaining work than unemployed people with no criminal conviction. So what are the practical steps that we are taking to meet these objectives? There are currently 140 Jobcentre Plus advisers working in prisons. Jobcentre Plus also has a permanent or part-time presence in all the young offenders institutions. The work focuses on offenders’ needs both upon induction and pre-release from prison. We recognise that the transition from prison to the community is a key transition point in the journey from crime to resettlement, as the noble Baroness, Lady Hayter, pointed out. While initiatives such as Freshstart will ensure that the prison leaver attends an appointment on release, we are keen to take this support a step further, using the work programme as the primary vehicle for help and support. Currently, offenders—prison leavers and those serving a community sentence—who are in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance are mandated on to the work programme after nine or 12 months, depending on their age. Offenders also have the opportunity as a disadvantaged group to volunteer for early entry to the work programme after three months of being on jobseeker’s allowance. From March next year, all prison leavers who claim jobseeker’s allowance will enter the work programme from day one of release from prison. Instead of arranging an appointment for the prison leaver to attend and claim jobseekers’ allowance on release, the claim for jobseeker’s allowance will be taken in prison to start entitlement immediately on release, allowing mandatory referral to the work programme. We have created a series of prices for different work programme payment groups based on our expectation of how many resources will need to be employed by a provider to successfully place that group into sustained employment. Prison leavers are a separate payment group and work programme providers will be paid a maximum price of £5,600 for claimants who find and sustain employment. To gain the most support for the claimant, our expectation is that work programme providers will liaise with other service providers in order to gain the most support for the claimant and to increase the chance of them gaining employment. Furthermore, we will make a record of all prison leavers and retain that record for 13 weeks from the date when the prisoner leaves custody. If a claim to jobseeker’s allowance is made during the 13 weeks after leaving custody, the prison leaver will be referred to the work programme at the point of claim. Once on the work programme, the prison leaver will remain on it for at least two years. We estimate that 30,000 prisoners will claim jobseeker’s allowance and start the work programme within 13 weeks of release from prison. I believe that this is indeed a revolutionary approach and will be effective in reducing re-offending. I want to make it clear that the work done by Jobcentre Plus staff focuses on the period shortly before a prisoner’s release date. To return to the noble Lord’s proposal, the added costs and staff that I believe would be required to implement this would arise because the work would be done on entering prison or detention and is likely to need updating as the sentence continues. As the noble Lord would accept, when we have limited resources, they must be targeted where they can be most beneficial. I finish by addressing what is often referred to as the finance gap and how I believe that universal credit will address it. When a valid claim has been made, the payment on account can be claimed. Allow me to illustrate by way of example; I have not used too many, as others have. Let us say that a prisoner is released on a Friday and has a discharge grant for the weekend. He claims universal credit on a Monday; it is paid monthly in arrears. He asks for a payment on account pending the first pay day being reached. If agreed, that will be paid on a Monday, so there is no gap. It is recoverable but that is the same for all universal credit payments and there is no difference in treatment. The most important thing here is that we have set up a powerful group which will be very sharp in making sure that this happens. The work programme providers will have an incredible interest in making sure that these universal credit provisions are set up because that will allow them to get on with the next stage. They know that they have to stabilise the person and get them going, and we have set up that dynamic to achieve that. We will continue to work with the Prison Service, the Ministry of Justice and other agencies to ensure that on release prisoners have all the necessary information about claiming benefits and pursuing programmes that prevent reoffending. Although there are problems in this area, and the noble Lord, as always, has described them with great eloquence, we want to make sure that universal credit is not part of the problem but part of the solution. I am looking forward to meeting him. I am also talking to the Ministry of Justice about a lot of these initiatives. I think that things are beginning to move in this area in a way that may start to ease the incredible frustration that I know he has had year after year, and I urge him to withdraw his amendment.