Probation Board speaks of challenges of temporarily housing ex-prisoners in Derry & Strabane

At last November’s Full Council Meeting independent councillor Raymond Barr proposed that council invite PBNI representatives to discuss the prevalence of non-approved housing, or “bail hostels”, in the district which, he said, did not require licences to operate.

During a deputation, at a Special Full Council Meeting on Wednesday, PBNI Assistant Director, Liz Arthur, said the “vast majority” of PBNI’s service users are accommodated in their own homes, but when that is not possible they must be housed in approved premises to “manage their risk”.

PBNI have seven approved premises across Northern Ireland that provide 91 beds, and Derry’s only approved premises, Bonds Hill Simon Community, provides just four beds.

Ms Arthur said these premises provided an “enhanced level of public protection”, such as the 24/7 presence of trained staff, CCTV monitoring, and curfews, and in order for someone recently released from prison to be referred to an approved premises they need to have been assessed by PBNI as presenting a high likelihood of reoffending.

“A huge challenge for us is moving individuals on from approved premises,” she conceded. “I often refer to it as bed blocking, similar to patients in hospitals not being able to be discharged until they have a care package in place.

“It is difficult to move people on because of challenges in the wider housing sector at the moment; there’s an increased number of people on statutory housing waiting lists, and the demand for temporary accommodation, and that clearly impacts on our service users as well.

“We do get to the stage where we issue ‘notice to quit letters’, telling the person that they’ve got four weeks and they need to move on.

“That’s where we work closely with our colleagues in the Housing Executive to find alternative accommodation.”

Sinn Féin councillor Christopher Jackson said PBNI did “fantastic work” within Bonds Hill and asked if there were plans to expand the number of approved premises within the district, as there was “concern and uncertainty” among the public around non-approved premises.

Ms Arthur said the Northern Island Prison Service has been preparing work that will predict the number of people leaving prison over the next number of years who will meet the criteria for approved premises, and this will determine if PBNI needs to increase the number of beds.

Sinn Féin councillor Patricia Logue asked what action PBNI takes when someone is released and none of the 91 approved beds are available.

Ms Arthur said those beds were used for “high risk” people, and there are instances whereby PBNI cannot provide one due to availability.

She concluded: “If we can’t get somebody into an approved premises and we’re concerned about their risk, there are other things like electronic monitoring, so they can’t leave that address between whatever hours are appropriate.

“So there are other measures that we can put in place.”

Andrew Balfour,

Local Democracy Reporter.