§ Mr. DhandaTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the number of prisons in the UK which employ link workers to help resettle offenders after custodial sentences have been served. [113746]
§ Paul GogginsThe Prison Service in England and Wales does not maintain a central record of establishments with link workers helping to resettle prisoners on release. The Prison Service works in partnership with the National Probation Service, youth offending teams, Connexions, Jobcentre Plus, housing authorities and voluntary sector organisations, which provide a range of resettlement support for released prisoners. The Prison Service Custody to Work initiative, with an additional £14.5 million a year from April 2003, is supporting the development of these 97W partnerships, geared to improving employment, training and accommodation outcomes for released prisoners.
Prisons in Scotland and Northern Ireland are the responsibility of the Scottish Executive and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland respectively.