All discharged prisoners are issued with a travel warrant or fares paid to their release address within the UK (incl. the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or the Republic of Ireland) and they are issued regardless of the prisoner’s eligibility for a subsistence payment. A travel warrant details the journey requirements, for example, the station nearest to the prison to the station nearest home. This will be exchanged for a ticket at the station. The prison may also provide transport from the establishment to the nearest station, if there are difficulties (e.g. a disability) in getting to the nearest station.
Those aged 18 or over (16 and over in Scotland), serving a custodial sentence and in custody for more than 14 days, may be eligible for a payment called a subsistence payment in England and Wales, and a Discharge Grant in Northern Ireland and Scotland. This money is meant to help pay for necessary living expenses in the period immediately after release, if the prison leaver is unemployed, before the first benefit payment. A relatively small number of prisoners will have accrued any significant savings whilst in prison and were it not for the subsistence payment many would leave prison with little or no money. Having consulted a number of stakeholders, it appears to the Directory editor that in practice the sum, though certainly helpful, is rarely adequate to cover this period. See the reference to Local Welfare Assistance on page 220 to find out what other funding may be available.
A subsistence payment is paid in order to ensure that a prisoner will have sufficient money on release to meet their immediate needs. You may be eligible for a subsistence payment if you are serving over 14 days in custody. Payments are not paid to civil prisoners, those imprisoned on default of a fine, those awaiting deportation or those travelling to an address outside the United Kingdom on discharge.
England and Wales
Standard payment £82.39
The subsistence payment is a set fixed rate of £82.39 and is paid to eligible prisoners on release from prison. Payment of the subsistence payment is not set in any legislation at present. The purpose of the payment is not to provide for all the prisoner’s needs after release. It is intended solely to assist them in the first few days after release and before they might reasonably be able to get a job or an appointment at the job centre and/or begin to access state benefits.
Northern Ireland
Standard Grant £72.40 (all eligible prisoners)
Higher Grant £146.44
Scotland
Standard Grant £77 (for all those eligible aged 16 and over on the day of their liberation)
Higher Grant £147.92
England & Wales
It is expected that a prisoner upon release will have suitable accommodation already arranged. If it can be established that a prisoner will be leaving with no fixed address (NFA) they can apply for help towards the cost of securing accommodation on release. Forms will be issued to the prisoner to complete before release. The discretionary payment is provided at the Governor’s discretion and is always paid directly to a genuine accommodation provider. It can be up to £50 in value and cannot be paid to a prisoner or a friend or relative of the prisoner.
There may be various reasons why prisoners do not have suitable clothing for their release. For example, they may have entered prison in the summer wearing light clothing and be released during a particularly cold part of the winter. Alternatively, over the period spent in prison, a prisoner may have gained or lost weight so that his or her original clothing no longer fits. If prisoners do not have sufficient personal clothing to wear on discharge, then the establishment should provide adequate clothing.
The Prison Rules (23(6)) state that ‘A prisoner may be provided, where necessary, with suitable and adequate clothing on their release’. The cost/process of issuing suitable clothing is down to the decision of the prison establishment.
Scotland
In Scotland, the Prisons and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) Rules 2011 provide that at the time of a prisoner’s release, the Governor must provide suitable clothing to meet the prisoners immediate needs if the prisoner has insufficient clothing.