Following the Prime Minister’s announcement of a review into the early release scheme, and his welcome focus this week on building a more preventative state that invests in people’s success rather than paying for failure, we’ve shared our response.
While much of the debate has focused on who leaves prison and when, our work alongside young men leaving prison across London, and the insights of our Experts by Experience, tells us the bigger question is what happens next.
Any review of release policy must go hand in hand with a National Resettlement Framework that gives everyone leaving prison the foundations they need to rebuild their lives.
Read the full response from our CEO, Sian Williams, below.
“Today’s announcement of a review into the early release scheme puts the spotlight on who leaves prison and when. But from our experience, the bigger question is what happens next.
Every day, Switchback works alongside young men leaving prison to build lives they can be proud of. We see first-hand that the days and weeks after release are a crucial window, shaping whether someone has the chance to build a stable future.
Whether someone succeeds doesn’t begin or end at the prison gate. It depends on whether they leave prison with the foundations they need to rebuild their lives: somewhere safe to live, trusted relationships, meaningful opportunities and the right support at the right time. Too often, those foundations are missing.
Every day, Switchback works alongside young men leaving prison to build lives they can be proud of. We see first-hand that the days and weeks after release are a crucial window, shaping whether someone has the chance to build a stable future.
Whether someone succeeds doesn’t begin or end at the prison gate. It depends on whether they leave prison with the foundations they need to rebuild their lives: somewhere safe to live, trusted relationships, meaningful opportunities and the right support at the right time. Too often, those foundations are missing.
The Prime Minister spoke on Monday about building a more preventative state that invests in people’s success rather than paying for failure. If this review is serious about getting under the bonnet of release policy, that’s exactly the lens it should apply.
It should look beyond who leaves prison and when, and ask what gives people the best chance of living life differently and what gets in the way. That means looking at the barriers people face after release alongside the rising rates of prison recall, which too often undo the hard graft people are putting into rebuilding their lives while placing further pressure on a prison system already in crisis.
Release and resettlement cannot be treated as separate issues.
The decisions made at the prison gate must be matched by a National Resettlement Framework that ensures everyone leaves prison with the basics they need to rebuild their lives – from somewhere safe to live and trusted relationships to practical essentials like access to ID, banking and a phone – while giving local services the flexibility and incentives to work together around each person’s goals and the community they are returning to.
If we want fewer victims, safer communities and fewer people cycling back into prison, we need to get both right.”
