Reviews of contemporary debates and developments in criminal justice policy have rarely been included in previous editions of Social Policy Review. As I have noted elsewhere (Wincup, 2013), crime and its control has seldom been a key concern of social policy academics. Instead it has been left largely to criminologists, who too frequently have failed to explore the connections between crime and social policy. This chapter focuses on one aspect of criminal justice: prisoner resettlement. It has been deliberately chosen not only because it offer an opportunity to explore how developments in criminal justice policy mirror shifts in other social policy contexts but also because it allows an appreciation of the impact of social policies on the likelihood of (re)offending.

The chapter is structured as follows. We begin by looking at the numbers of prisoners released each year from the 117 prisons in England and Wales, their characteristics, and the main issues they face upon release. This will open up a discussion of the purpose of resettlement and the respective responsibilities of criminal justice and other agencies. Next, we will consider the notion of a ‘rehabilitation revolution’ which was initially conceived by the Coalition government (2010–15) and promised to have a far-reaching impact on the structure and delivery of resettlement services. In the next two sections, we will reflect critically upon the impact of the ‘rehabilitation revolution’, both in custody and in the community. The chapter ends with an exploration of how prisoner resettlement is shaped by a wider range of social policies, focusing on housing and social security in particular.

Our focus in this chapter is on England and Wales since other parts of the UK have their own criminal justice systems. For the most part, this discussion is limited to prisoners aged 18 and over. Those aged 17 and under are accommodated in young offender institutions and supervised by youth offending teams upon release. Different social policies also apply to this group; for example, the expectation that they will be in some form of education and training until they are aged 18 (see Fergusson, 2016).

Setting the scene: prison resettlement in the 21st century

Each year significant number of prisoners leave custody: in 2015, just under 70,000 prisoners were released from prison (Ministry of Justice, 2016).