Should prisoners jump the queue for housing?

With the mass releases from prison underway, politicians have turned their attention to what happens after inmates leave jail. On Tuesday, Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary announced that when necessary budget hotels will be used to ensure that people released early have a roof over their heads. On Wednesday, the Times reported that Sadiq Khan has called for an ‘honest conversation’ about allowing some prisoners to ‘jump in the queue to get housing to avoid them reoffending again’. 

To many people this will feel outrageous. There is something utterly unjust in the idea that those who have broken the law should be rewarded with a scarce council property while more deserving, law-abiding citizens wait years. Is the government really offering houses to criminals while cutting winter fuel payments for pensioners? These kinds of choices add fuel to the idea that Labour are pursuing two-tier government 

Why choose a policy almost guaranteed to be unpopular? A Ministry of Justice spokesman emphasised that hotels will only be used for ‘a very small number of individuals’ and will only apply to people released under the early release scheme, meaning there shouldn’t be hotel rooms for anyone ‘serving a sentence for violent, sexual, terrorism or domestic abuse offences.’