Hostels consultation 'mixed picture'

After Channel 4 News last night disclosed the location of 150 privately-run bail hostels to open within a month, the government has said stakeholders meetings were carried out.

But Enfield council - just one of the council's affected across England and Wales - maintains that, contrary to justice minister David Hanson's claims on last night's programme, it only learnt about the 13 bail hostels in its borough after the Channel 4 News investigation.

The government says there are just five hostels in the borough.

Private company Clearsprings has been selected by the government to handle the project of setting up bail hostels to house people who've either been let out of jail early or those awaiting trial.

Today probation officers union Napo described the situation as "a mixed picture".

Harry Fletcher from Napo told Channel 4 News at Noon: "I have spoken to probation staff and to police sources who've said they didn't know that these units were being opened in their borough.

"I have spoken to other probation officers who said they were told afterwards."

"I've spoken to some probation officers who said they were given a presentation by Clearsprings, but again they weren't certain where the units were going to be opened."

Asked what a consultation process would have achieved, Fletcher said: "If the company (Clearsprings) had had an obligation to consult about the location of the hostels before they were opened, then our view might have been that the particular place was inappropriate, that it was too near residential units. We don't know.

"What we do know is that Clearsprings only open units for four people or less thereby avoiding planning application."

"If local authorities had been consulted they might have objected to the hostel being opened in a particular place, they may have objected to it being anywhere in their particular in borough."

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