Tents handed to early release prisoners despite Andy Burnham’s vow to end rough sleeping
Tents have been handed out to early release prisoners despite Andy Burnham's vow to end rough sleeping in the UK since taking office.
During his first speech as Prime Minister, Mr Burnham vowed to slash numbers sleeping on the streets across Britain as a marquee objective of his premiership.
However, he has also ploughed on with Labour's controversial early release scheme - which has seen around 1,350 prisoners freed this month after serving as little as a third of their sentence.
But the probation office has now resorted to offering tents to former inmates with the system running out of housing for the additional demand.
According to The Telegraph, around 100 tents have been offered out in the past year.
Since 2022/23, the number of former prisoners rough sleeping following their release has more than doubled from 6,040 to 14,360. In 2019/20, that figure was just 2,920.
Nearly one in six inmates, or 15.9 per cent, now leave custody without a home.
A probation office whistleblower told the newspaper: "I’ve had to say to someone, 'I've got a tent, go and live in a park for a bit.' You can tell them to go to the council, but they can’t help either because there’s a housing crisis."
This is despite the Prime Minister's pledge to "offer everyone a route off the streets this Christmas". A February 2025 report published by the Government estimated there were 4,793 people sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2025 in England - a new record high and the fourth annual increase in a row.
Figures from charity Nacro also indicate two-thirds of those who leave jail without a home go on to reoffend within twelve months.
London was the UK city with the highest number of releases into rough sleeping in 2025-26 with 1,990.
Documents seen by the outlet show that probation officers have been approaching charities to request tents they could pass on to homeless ex-offenders.
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A Berkshire-based organisation called The Inside Out Trust, which operates in Slough, Bracknell and Reading, has been working alongside probation staff to supply camping equipment, sleeping bags, cooking gear and mobile phones to former inmates.
Between March 2024 and January 2025, the charity provided more than 20 camping kits to people on probation.
However, a charity spokesman confirmed it was prevented from supplying additional tents or phones to the Probation Service early last year.
Stefan Fafinski, the trust's chairman, said: "I can understand why it's a bad look to be encouraging tented cities, but prison leavers need somewhere to live. It's frustrating that we're not able to help."
Shadow Justice Minister Nick Timothy said: "Labour's shambolic early release scheme is putting thousands of criminals back on to the streets, and their chaotic lack of planning means many released prisoners are now sleeping in tents."
He added that rough sleeping was proven to increase reoffending and that the scheme was "putting public safety at risk."
Reform UK's prisons spokesman Zia Yusuf called the situation a "farce," blaming the combination of early releases and housing pressures.
A Government spokesman said: "It is not Government policy to provide tents to people being released from prison who are at risk of being homeless. Tents are not, and should never be, an acceptable housing solution.
"The Prime Minister has made it clear that the Government is committed to ending rough sleeping. Backed by record investment in probation services, we’re helping those leaving prison to secure accommodation and move into work, as we work to halve prison leaver homelessness by the end of this Parliament, reduce reoffending, and keep the public safe.
"We’re also investing £47million in grassroots homelessness charities and community organisations, helping vulnerable people off the streets and into settled accommodation, alongside a national drive to end rough sleeping."
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