Official Statistics

Offender Accommodation Outcomes - Statistical Guidance

Published 25 July 2024

Applies to England and Wales

The ‘Offender Accommodation Outcomes’ statistics publication covers accommodation outcomes for people on probation, including breakdowns on region, sex, age, ethnicity, offence type and sentence length. This document provides more detail on those statistics and is intended to be used as a guide.

This guidance contains the details around the following performance metrics:

• MI014 – Housed on Release from Custody
• MI015a – Settled Accommodation at 3 Months Post Release from Custody
• MI015b – Settled Accommodation at 3 Months Post Disposal for Community Sentences

Offender accommodation statistics were previously published annually each July alongside other probation performance measures in the Community Performance Annual statistics publication. The data is now published as a standalone publication given the high priority placed on the data by the probation service and to improve transparency.

The Probation Service is responsible for managing all individuals on a community sentence or licence following their release from prison or post disposal for community sentences in England and Wales.

There are 12 probation regions across England and Wales: 11 probation regions in England and one in Wales.

1. Definitions

1.1 Cases in scope - Releases from Custody

Figures count accommodation circumstances by releases from custody, including releases following recall, committal to custody for breach of post sentence supervision and at sentence, or post sentence, supervision expiry.

Where an offender has been released from custody more than once in the period, their accommodation circumstance will be counted once for each release where the case has not terminated before the measurement point.

In instances where an individual has multiple releases on the same day, only one of the records is assessed. All other instances of the records are excluded from the statistics.

The following cases are not considered in scope and are therefore excluded from the statistics:

• The individual is recalled to custody before the measurement point, including releases where the individual is subject to same-day recall to custody
• The case is terminated before the measurement point
• Releases from unsupervised short sentences
• Releases following committal for post-sentence supervision (PSS) breach
• Releases on temporary licence (RoTL)
• Releases both from and to Immigration Removal Centres

Due to the different inclusion criteria and data cleansing, the total volume of releases in this release will not match official statistics for total offender releases.

1.2 Cases in scope - Community Sentences

Figures provided count commencement of community and suspended sentence orders supervised by probation. This excludes sentences with only unpaid work, curfew or electronic monitoring requirements as these are not subject to offender management by the Probation Service.

Sentences where the Probation Service are not required to provide offender management or where the sentence ends on the day imposed are excluded from the statistics.

Because of different inclusion criteria and data cleansing, the total volume of community sentence starts in this dataset will not match official statistics for total community sentence starts.

1.3 Accommodation circumstances

For people on probation serving custodial sentences, accommodation circumstances are assessed at the night following the point of release (MI014) and at 3 months following release (MI015a) from prison. For those under community sentences, accommodation circumstances are assessed at 3 months post community sentence (MI015b).

Cases are reported in the month of their accommodation circumstances; that is the record on the first night following release (MI014), or the night following the 3 month point (MI015a and MI015b). For example, for MI015a, if an individual was released from prison in September 2022, they would be reported in December 2022, as this is 3 months following their release.

For further information about terms within these definitions, please refer to section 6.1 Glossary of Terms.

Settled Accommodation	(i) Any accommodation that provides a permanent, independent housing solution, including: - As a householder or house owner - Rental accommodation (tenant) – private or social rental - Living with friends and family (settled) – the individual can reside in that home and is able to return to that home - Living with a friend with a bedroom available for the individual’s use and access to domestic facilities - A caravan or boat that is viewed by the individual as their permanent home (ii) Supported Housing - regardless of the duration or residency (iii) Long-term residential healthcare
Other Housed	Individuals living in transient or temporary accommodation that does not provide a long-term solution to housing need. Previously known as ‘Other unsettled accommodation’. This includes: - Friends and family transient Short-term or transient accommodation
Bail / Probation Accommodation	Includes: - Probation Approved Premises (AP) - Bail Accommodation Support Services (BASS) accommodation - Community Accommodation Services (CAS2 or CAS3) - Accommodation provided by the Home Office Immigration Enforcement Service
Homeless, Not Rough Sleeping	The individual does not have any accommodation that they are entitled to occupy, or they have accommodation they are entitled to occupy but they cannot be reasonably expected to occupy it for any reason. Either: - The individual occupies a property with no legal authority or permission to do so, such as squatting - The individual may reside in night shelters, emergency hostels or campsites
Rough Sleeping	The individual does not have any accommodation they are entitled to occupy, or they have accommodation they are entitled to occupy but they cannot be reasonably expected to occupy it for any reason. The individual sleeps in open air (such as on the streets, in tents, doorways, parks, bus shelters or encampments) or in other places not designed for occupation (such as stairwells, barns, sheds, car parks, cars, derelict boats or stations)
Unknown	The accommodation status is unknown, either because: - The individual is awaiting assessment - No status is recorded - There are multiple statuses for a single release - There are errors in the record

2. Calculations

2.1 Formula

The accommodation metrics MI014, MI015a and MI015b are measured as a percentage. The percentage is the outcome of the equation:

a / (a + b)

where:

• ‘a’ is the number of people on probation in positive outcomes, either on release (MI014), or at 3 months (MI015a and MI015b)
• ‘b’ is the number of people on probation in negative outcomes, either on release (MI014) or at 3 months (MI015a and MI015b)

The cases which are considered positive or negative are specified below.

2.2 MI014 - Housed on Release From Custody

Positive outcomes

Cases are considered positive if the individual has been housed in any temporary or long-term accommodation. This includes the categories:

• Settled Accommodation
• Other Housed
• Bail / Probation Accommodation (with the exclusion of accommodation which is provided by the Home Office Immigration Enforcement Service)

Negative outcomes

Cases are considered negative if the individual is homeless or awaiting assessment. This includes the categories:

• Homeless, Not Rough Sleeping
• Homeless, Rough Sleeping
• Individuals within ‘Unknown’ who are awaiting assessment

2.3 MI015a and MI015b - Settled Accommodation at 3 Months Post Release from Custody or Post Disposal

Positive outcomes

Cases are considered positive if the individual has been housed in any permanent or long-term accommodation. This includes the categories:

• Settled Accommodation
• Individuals within Bail / Probation Accommodation who are in Probation Approved Premises (AP)

Negative outcomes

Cases are considered negative if the individual is housed in any temporary accommodation, has not been housed and is therefore homeless, or if the individual is awaiting assessment. This includes the categories:

• Other Housed
• Bail / Probation Accommodation (excluding Probation Approved Premises, and those whose accommodation is provided by the Home Office Immigration Enforcement Service)
• Homeless, Not Rough Sleeping
• Homeless, Rough Sleeping
• Individuals within ‘Unknown’ who are awaiting assessment

2.4 The MI percentage cannot be calculated from the tables provided

Not all cases or individuals that are included in the Cases in Scope and the volumes within the tables are included in the calculations of the MI014, MI015a and MI015b percentages.

Cases are excluded from these calculations when the accommodation circumstances are unknown, except for when the individual is awaiting assessment, in which case, they are included as a negative outcome.

Additionally, when an individual has their accommodation provided by the Home Office Immigration Enforcement Service, they appear within the Bail/Probation Accommodation category. However, they are excluded from the MI calculations.

This means that the MI014, MI015a and MI015b percentages cannot be calculated using the tables provided, as the tables do not specify either:

• The number within Unknown who are awaiting assessment
• The number within Bail / Probation Accommodation who have their accommodation provided by the Home Office Immigration Enforcement Service

Additionally, for MI015a and MI015b, the tables do not specify the number within the Bail / Probation Accommodation category who are in Approved Premises (AP). Those in AP are considered a positive case, but those not in AP are considered a negative case.

2.5 Data sources

These statistics are from case management systems and involve manual data entry. While due care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the data, as with any large administrative data source, the possibility of errors cannot be eliminated. Over time, minor changes are made to recording practices.

3. Statistical Notes

3.1 Suppression

To protect the disclosure of personal information of any individual, all cases within the tables are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5.

Total figures are also subject to this suppression methodology after calculation, so the sum of numbers in each column may not match the total shown.

Percentages for MI014, MI015a and MI015b are based on unrounded volumes. All other percentages are based on the rounded volumes.

Suppression methodology:

1. Totals are at first calculated using the non-rounded volumes of cases
2. The MI014, MI015a and MI015b are all calculated using the non-rounded volumes of cases
3. All volumes, including the totals, are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5. Any number lower than 3 is rounded to 0
4. Percentages (with the exception of MI014, MI015a and MI015b) are calculated from the rounded numbers
5. Percentages based on fewer than 30 individuals are suppressed

3.2 Notable changes in methodology or recordings

Homelessness definitions and categorisation

Prior to January 2022, homelessness was recorded against one of three codes:

• Homeless - Rough Sleeping
• Homeless - Squat
• Homeless - Other

To improve the quality of data, since January 2022 homelessness is reported as one of three categories:

• Homeless - Rough Sleeping
• Homeless - Squat
• Homeless - Shelter / Emergency Hostel / Campsite

Due to the increased specification from ‘Other’ to ‘Shelter / Emergency Hostel / Campsite’, this means that cases which have previously been recorded as previously ‘Homeless – Other’ would from January 2022 be reported as ‘Homeless – Rough Sleeping’, as the only alternatives are ‘Squat’ and ‘Shelter / Emergency Hostel / Campsite’.

As a result, in the statistics, there is an increase in the number of cases reported as ‘Homeless – Rough Sleeping’ from January 2022 onwards, as well as a corresponding decrease in the number of cases reported as ‘Homeless – Not Rough Sleeping’. The proportion of those who are reported overall as Homeless have remained around the same level.

Therefore, caution should be taken when comparing data prior to January 2022 to data from January 2022 onwards.

Change to Case Management system - Address recording

In September 2022, a change was made to the Case Management system (nDelius) in how accommodation statuses are recorded.

For some records, the personal circumstance and address records could not be matched. Those that could not be matched were categorised as the negative outcome, ‘Awaiting Assessment’. As a result, performance dropped across all measures following the change.

Prior to the September 2022 change, to ensure that records were created and updated in nDelius, the accommodation types were only reported where accommodation status for the individual has been recorded at the point of sentence. If the accommodation status at sentence was not recorded, then any previous or future recording was excluded from the statistics.

Following the September 2022 change, address types from the address record, no matter how old, are used. This has resulted in a significant reduction in the number of missing records.

Change to Offence Type categorisation

The offence types have been reviewed and aligned to the Probation tables of the Offender Management Statistics. As a result, more offence types are reported as “Other/Unknown”.

All data in the tables of Offence Type should be considered revised. We are currently providing data for the latest two performance years and we will follow up with the other years in due course.

We are reviewing these data records and if any changes are required, they will be provided in the next release of the Offender Accommodation Outcomes Official Statistics.

4. Community Accommodation Service Tier 3 (CAS3)

From 19 July 2021, HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) launched a new transitional accommodation service, Community Accommodation Service Tier 3 (CAS3), providing up to 12 weeks’ basic accommodation for those leaving prison at risk of homelessness.

The service was initially launched in five probation regions (Yorkshire and the Humber; North West; Greater Manchester; Kent, Surrey and Sussex; and East of England). Delivery of CAS3 in Wales, through grant funding arrangements with Welsh Local Authorities, commenced in June 2022, and mobilisation of the service in the remaining six probation regions in England commenced in May 2023.

Full national coverage has only been in place since December 2023, therefore the 2024/25 performance year will be the first year with full national coverage.

4.1 CAS3 Starts

CAS3 placement volumes provided count the number of eligible referrals to CAS3 that have a recorded start date, meaning that the person on probation has begun their CAS3 placement, and has physically moved into a CAS3 property. Where an individual has been through the CAS3 service multiple times they will be counted once for each placement.

People on probation are eligible for CAS3 if they are recorded as being at risk of homelessness upon release from either prison, Community Accommodation Service Tier 1 (CAS1), or Community Accommodation Service Tier 2 (CAS2). The relevant performance year for each case is based on the recorded start date of the CAS3 placement.

Figures provided come from the CAS3 management information system. Referrals to the CAS3 service are recorded in this system by probation staff, with details of the person being referred included.

4.2 Data Quality

The CAS3 data from the regional Management Information systems is merged, updated and quality assured monthly. The data recording process has remained consistent from the scheme’s inception in July 2021 to March 2024, with data collection for each probation region commencing as they mobilised.

Individual cases are entered into the case management system when an initial referral to CAS3 is made, and are updated as the referral progresses (e.g. when a referral is accepted, when a placement starts).

Because these cases are extracted from a live case management system, in a minority of cases retrospective changes to referral and placement dates may be made. For this reason, the total volume of placements for each performance year will vary slightly from previously published figures.

4.3 Gender Recording

Gender breakdowns for CAS3 are calculated based on the recorded gender of residents in the CAS3 case management system. Information on an individual’s gender is collected by a probation practitioner by asking the person on probation their gender identity, and inputted manually into the Management Information.

All cases recorded as either Male or Transgender Male are aggregated as Male, and all cases recorded as Female or Transgender Female are aggregated as Female. Cases recorded as non-binary, transgender with no specific gender identity recorded, and blank cases are aggregated as Other.

Recording of gender within the CAS3 service may differ from recording within other Official Statistics, due to differences in categorisation and recording point.

5. Data Quality Statement

5.1 Relevance

These statistics are generally used by:

• Government
• Academia
• Media
• Charity sector
• General public

Additionally, these statistics play an important role in helping to ensure the Ministry of Justice’s accountability to the public. To ensure these statistics meet the needs of users, users are encouraged to provide comments and feedback on existing outputs including content, breadth, frequency and methodology.

5.2 Accuracy and Reliability

These statistics are from Management Information from case management systems and involve manual data entry. Management Information refers to information that is not collected specifically for statistics or research. This data is collected by the Ministry of Justice for uses such as registration and record-keeping.

Although due care has been taken when processing and analysing the returns, as with any large administrative data source, the possibility of errors cannot be eliminated. While the figures shows have been checked as far as practicable, they should be regarded as approximate and not necessarily accurate to the last whole number shown in the tables.

Over time, minor changes are made to recording practices to improve the accuracy of these statistics.

In accordance with Principle 2 of the Code of Practice for Statistics, the Ministry of Justice is required to publish transparent guidance on its policy for revisions.

The 3 reasons specified for statistics needing to be revised are changes in sources of administrative systems or methodology changes, receipt of subsequent information, and errors in statistical systems and processes. Each of these points, and its specific relevance to this publication, are addressed below:

• Changes in sources of administrative systems or methodology
  This guidance document will clearly state where there have been revisions to data due to changes in methodology or administrative systems. In addition, statistics affected within the publication will be appropriately footnoted.
• Receipt of subsequent information
  The nature of any administrative system is that data may be received late. Revision mid-year will only be made where it has been deemed that the late data has a major influence on the statistics. All other minor revisions will be published in the next scheduled update.
• Errors in statistical systems and processes
  Occasionally errors can occur in statistical processes, however procedures are constantly reviewed to minimise this risk. Should a significant error be found, the publication on the website will be updated and an errata slip published documenting the revision.

5.3 Timeliness and Punctuality

These statistics are assessed for MI014 at the night of release, and MI015a or MI015b on the night following 3 months post release or community disposal. Therefore, the statistics do not necessarily relate to an individual’s release date, but the month of their circumstance.

Data takes around one month to be collected and processed, and an additional month is required for any necessary revisions. Post data collection, analysis and quality assurance takes between one and 3 months.

To comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics, these statistics will be announced at least 4 weeks before the publication date. Any changes to pre-announced release dates will be agreed by the Head of Profession for Statistics and promptly announced, with reasons provided for these changes.

5.4 Comparability and Coherence

As noted under [Notable changes in methodology or recordings], care should be taken when comparing data specifically about homelessness on data prior to January 2022 to data from January 2022. This is because of improvements in data recording, which has increased the quality and accuracy of the data. Caution should also be taken from September 2022 due to the change in the case management system recordings, which also improved the quality and accuracy of the data.

Additionally, the total volume of cases in scope for community sentence starts and prison releases in these statistics will not match official statistics for total community sentence starts or prison releases, due to different data cleansing and exclusion criteria used. Therefore, there should not be comparisons made between different official statistics for cases in scope.

5.5 Accessibility and Clarity

These statistics are published on the Ministry of Justice GOV.UK website, and the publication is available from 09:30am on the day of release.

The tables are published in an Excel format. The summary document and this guidance are both published in an accessible HTML format.

The summary document is designed in a way to provide quick access to the top-level statistics, with further information within the tables. This guidance document and the notes within the tables provide clarity on any technical terms, definitions, or acronyms to ensure that these statistics can be used effectively.

6. Further Information

6.1 Glossary of Terms

Approved Premises (AP)	Residential units in the community managed by the NPS, which offer an enhanced level of public protection in the community for those who pose a serious risk of harm.
Awaiting assessment	For use by court staff when recording a new address and the circumstance is unknown.
Bail Accommodation Support Services (BASS) accommodation (13 weeks or more)	Temporary accommodation for those who would normally be living in the community on bail, or Home Detention Curfew (HDC), but do not otherwise have a suitable address during the period of their bail or HDC. This option should only be selected where the individual has been residing in the accommodation for more than 13 weeks.
Bail Accommodation Support Services (BASS) accommodation (less than 13 weeks)	Temporary accommodation for people who would normally be living in the community on bail, or Home Detention Curfew (HDC) but do not otherwise have a suitable address during the period of their bail or HDC. This option should only be selected where the individual has been residing in the accommodation for less than 13 weeks.
Community Accommodation Services (CAS1)	The CAS1 service provides intensively supervised accommodation in Approved Premises for high-risk offenders upon release.
Community Accommodation Services (CAS2)	This is another term for Bail, Accommodation and Support Services.
Community Accommodation Services (CAS3)	Temporary accommodation for up to 84 days for individuals who would normally be released from prison, or individuals who are moving on from Approved Premises (AP) or Bail Accommodation & Support Services (BASS). CAS3 began on 19 July 2021 within five probation regions, and full national coverage has now been in place since December 2023. Floating support is also provided including support to move-on to settled accommodation.
Curfew requirement	A curfew is one of the 13 requirements available to add to community orders and suspended sentence orders. An individual can be sentenced to be at a specified place (usually their own home) for certain periods. These periods can be up to 16 hours per day, for up to 12 months. The curfew is electronically monitored.
Electronic monitoring requirement	An electronic compliance monitoring requirement is one of the 13 requirements available to add to community orders and suspended sentence orders. An individual is electronically tagged to ensure they comply with restrictions imposed on their movements, for example, a requirement to stay away from a particular area.
HOIE Section 4	Home Office provided accommodation for those on immigration bail, prior to the Immigration Act 2016.
HOIE Section 10	Home Office accommodation provided under the Immigration Act 2016.
Homeless – Rough sleeping	The individual does not have any accommodation they are entitled to occupy, or they have accommodation they are entitled to occupy but they cannot be reasonably expected to occupy it for any reason. The individual sleeps in open air (such as on the streets, in tents, doorways, parks, bus shelters or encampments) or in other places not designed for occupation (such as stairwells, barns, sheds, car parks, cars, derelict boats or stations).
Homeless – Shelter / Emergency hostel / Campsite	The individual does not have any accommodation they are entitled to occupy, or they have accommodation they are entitled to occupy but they cannot be reasonably expected to occupy it for any reason. They may reside in night shelters, emergency hostels, direct access hostels or campsites.
Homeless - Squat	The individual does not have any accommodation they are entitled to occupy, or they have accommodation they are entitled to occupy but they cannot be reasonably expected to occupy it for any reason. The individual occupies a property with no legal authority or permission to do so.
Home Detention Curfew (HDC)	Home Detention Curfew is a scheme that allows certain offenders to serve the last part of their sentence at a suitable address, for a period up to a maximum of 6 months. The individual is subject to a curfew which is electronically monitored.
Householder or house owner	Accommodation that provides a permanent, independent housing solution and is sustained by the individual and/or spouse or partner through payments to a mortgage, or complete ownership via possession of the deeds to the address. This can include a caravan or boat that is viewed by the individual as their permanent home.
Immigration detention	Immigration detention estate within HMP or an immigration removal centre.
Living with friends and family (settled)	The individual resides with friends or family. The individual: - Is able to reside in the home permanently and - Has a bedroom available for thier use and access to domestic facilities.
Living with friends and family (transient)	The individual resides with friends or family. Either the individual: - Is not able to reside in the home permanently and / or - Does not have a bedroom, or domestic facilities available for their use If an individual is frequently changing address, then this should be recorded as friends / family (transient).
Long-term residential healthcare	Accommodation that provides services and support, including around-the-clock health care, to residents who cannot care for themselves because of chronic physical or psychological illnesses or disabilities. The individual is expected to live there for 13 weeks or longer. Examples may include: - Adult residential facilities because of a disability - Nursing homes - Hospices - Psychiatric hospital care - Rehabilitation unit care This does not refer to assisted living facilities, board and care homes, rest homes, or outpatients staying in hospital following surgery or an accident.
Release on Temporary Licence (RoTL)	Release on Temporary Licence (RoTL) allows prisoners to be released temporarily into the community for specific purposes, such as to engage in employment, to maintain family ties or to receive medical treatment. Not every prisoner is eligible to be released on temporary licence and some, such as those posing the highest security threat, are barred altogether.
Rental accommodation (tenant) - Private	Accommodation that provides a permanent, independent housing solution, defined by a tenancy secured for a minimum of 13 weeks. The accommodation is sustained through regular rental payments to a private landlord.
Rental accommodation (tenant) – Social rental from LA	Accommodation that provides a permanent, independent housing solution, defined by a tenancy secured for a minimum of 13 weeks. The accommodation is sustained through regular rental payments to a social landlord.
Supported housing	Accommodation provided by an accredited housing agency that is provided for a minimum 3-month period and includes support for the individual in relation to moving to a permanent independent housing solution. This does not include approved premises, BASS accommodation or long-term residential health care.
Transient or short-term accommodation	Accommodation that is not intended to be used for more than 13 consecutive weeks. This can be any type of accommodation but is unlikely to provide a long-term solution to a housing need. For example, this may include, but is not limited to: - Tenancies available for less than 13 weeks - B&Bs - Hostels - Crisis houses This category should also be used in any other circumstance when the individual frequently changes address.
Unpaid work requirement	Unpaid work, or community payback, is one of the 13 requirements available to add to community orders and suspended sentence orders. An individual can be sentenced to do between 40 hours and 300 hours of unpaid work to be completed within 12 months, to help the community, for example, removing graffiti.

6.2 Symbols and conventions

The following symbols have been used throughout the tables in this publication:

Symbol	Description
[x]	Not available
0	Value less than 3
[z]	Not applicable or unreliable (less than 30 observations)
[p]	Provisional data
[r]	Revised data

6.3 Future publications

Our statisticians regularly review the content of publications. Development of new and improved statistical outputs is usually dependent on reallocating existing resources. As part of our continual review and prioritisation, we welcome user feedback on existing outputs including content, breadth, frequency, and methodology.

Please send any comments you have about this publication including suggestions for further developments or reductions in content to CrossCuttingPerformanceEnquiries@justice.gov.uk

6.4 Official Statistics status

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR).

OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality, and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards, by emailing CrossCuttingPerformanceEnquiries@justice.gov.uk

Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.

6.5 Contact

Press enquiries should be directed to the Ministry of Justice press office:
Tel: 020 3334 3536
Email: newsdesk@justice.gov.uk

Other enquiries about these statistics should be directed to E Stradling:
CrossCuttingPerformanceEnquiries@justice.gov.uk

General enquiries about the statistical work of the Ministry of Justice can be emailed to:
statistics.enquiries@justice.gov.uk

Alternative formats are available on request from:
statistics.enquiries@justice.gov.uk

View more information in our collection page for Offender Accommodation Outcomes.