Bail hostels planned for 'poor' areas

Channel 4 News can reveal for the first time the location of all 150 bail hostels run by the private company Clearsprings that won the government contract to to house low risk offenders on early release from prison or on bail.

Opponents say the hostels - mainly regular houses in ordinary streets - are being opened without consultation with local residents and, unlike probation service hostels, don't provide 24-hour supervision of their residents. Our political correspondent, Cathy Newman, has been to Enfield in north London, where at least 13 of the hostels have opened in the most deprived part of the borough.

Enfield says it was dismayed to find it has no fewer than 13 bail hostels run by Clearsprings. Councillor Ertan Hurer says the local authority wasn't consulted and worries about a public backlash.

So why pick on Enfield? Councillors suspect it is because it is cheap to rent houses here, so Clearsprings saves money. They have written to the government complaining a sudden influx of offenders just out of jail risks exacerbating an existing problem with drugs and gang violence.

Channel 4 News visited some of the Enfield hostels. Householders who had met their new neighbours complained about noise and anti-social behaviour. Those who hadn't were alarmed at what might lie ahead.

In bail hostels run by the public sector there's at least one supervisor on site 24 hours a day. But the government insists people in Clearsprings hostels don't need supervision because they're not a big risk to the public.

Aliya spent six months in prison for GBH. She's now tagged, and living in one of the Enfield hostels. She has a 7pm curfew, and admits she's not the quietest of residents, but insists people on the street are tolerant.

Living just round the corner, Elliot is more reserved. He served time for defrauding a bank and is now keen to get his life and business back together.

Channel 4 News has obtained the locations to get a Clearsprings hostel within a month. They range from Bolton in the north of england to Basildon in the south, and Bridgend in South Wales - 150 in total with the government refusing to rule out hundreds more.

The Ministry of Justice told Channel 4 News tonight that the police, probation and local authorities must be consulted. But although the police in enfield were consulted, both the council and local residents say they weren't.

Clearsprings referred all questions to the government. In a statement the Ministry of Justice said:

"Clearsprings is under a contractual obligation to consult in areas where they are to open bail accommodation. Any reports that it has failed to do so will be investigated.

"Those in [Clearsprings] accommodation are innocent until proven guilty. Defendants who pose a risk to the public will continue to be held on remand."

100 miles south of Enfield, leafy Arundel has managed to see off a Clearsprings hostel.

Local residents got together to oppose the hostel, after the company gave neighbours just two days' notice that one would open in a quiet, elderly neighbourhood.

It's that kind of local backlash that has prompted the government to scale back its original plans for 1000 beds to be provided by Clearsprings.

Just weeks ago, a senior government member indicated that there would be 800 beds in 350 hostels.

Now, opponents of the scheme wonder if it's only a matter of time before the latest plans are once again rethought.

Email us your views.

Share this article

Send this article to a friend »

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Reddit
• Facebook
• StumbleUpon

What are these?