§ Mr. McCabeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of whether the monetary grant made available for prisoners on release from custodial sentence offering no fixed abode as an address acts as an incentive to give no fixed abode as their address; and whether paedophiles giving no fixed abode on release avoid immediate listing on the Register of Sex Offenders. [157995]
§ Paul GogginsA higher rate of discharge grant is paid to prisoners on release only if there is a need to seek, obtain and pay for accommodation. It is only paid to prisoners with no accommodation arranged in advance if this arises through no fault of the prisoner.
The Prison Service undertook a large-scale survey in March and April 2003 of sentenced prisoners nearing release. 29 per cent. said they did not have accommodation arranged on release, compared to 33 per cent. in a similar survey undertaken in November and December 2001.
Registered sex offenders are subject to the notification requirements of the Sex Offenders Act 1997. They are required to provide the police with their home address within three days of their release from prison. Where an offender does not have a home address (which is his sole or main residence in the UK), he is required to provide the police with an address of premises in the UK which he regularly visits.