Offenders to be released early as prison system faces 'collapse', says minister

Thousands of prisoners are to be released early as part of an emergency measure being introduced to try to alleviate overcrowding in prisons

Thousands of prisoners are to be released earlier than planned as the government attempts to avert the “collapse” of the prison system.

In an announcement on Friday, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood warned of a "total breakdown of law and order" unless the government took immediate action to address the overcrowding crisis in jails.

Mahmood said prisons were “on the point of collapse”, with barely 700 places left in the adult male estate and jails operating at 99% capacity since the start of 2023.

If prisons ran out of cell space, she warned the country faced the prospect of “van-loads of dangerous people circling the country with nowhere to go”.

The plans set out by Mahmood will see a temporary reduction in the proportion of the sentence many prisoners must serve in jail from 50% to 40%.

"I fully understand there is risk attached with doing so', she said.

The justice secretary made clear the plan would not apply to violent offenders serving more than four years, sex offenders or those in prison for crimes connected to domestic abuse. Dangerous offenders serving extended or life sentences would also be exempted from the scheme.

Most prisoners currently serve 50% of their sentence in jail, with the remaining 50% being served on licence and under threat of being returned to prison if they break their parole conditions.

Mahmood stressed that “this is an emergency measure” and “not a permanent change”, insisting "I am unapologetic in my belief that criminals must be punished."

The justice secretary blamed the previous government for the crisis in jails, saying they "left the country of the brink of disaster" and "courted catastrophe".

It is expected to come into force in September, giving the Probation Service time to plan for offenders’ release.

The Justice Secretary also announced the recruitment of 1,000 additional trainee probation officers by March and an end to the previous government’s early release scheme, which saw 10,000 prisoners released up to 70 days early.

The department will also conduct a review into how the prison crisis got so bad.

The latest statistics from the Ministry of Justice show the adult male prison population on Monday stood at 83,755 out of a “usable operational capacity” of 84,463.

While among the total population the number of available spaces stands at 1,451.

Speaking to ITV's Good Morning Britain programme on Friday, Metropolitan Police Commissioner said the plan is the "least worst option".

“The government have got a situation where there’s no easy solution", he said.

“Prisons are very, very close to full and filling up day in day out. The worst possible thing would be for the system to block, because the system blocks in prisons if they get completely full. That kicks back into the courts and into what we do. And that’s really dangerous for the public.

“So the government are forced into making a rapid decision to avoid that risk. So it’s going to be the least worst option they’re going to have to find, so I understand what they’re trying to do, however not ideal it is.”

Former Conservative justice secretary Alex Chalk reportedly pressed former prime minister Rishi Sunak for a reduction to 40% before the election.

Another former Conservative Justice Secretary told ITV News the Labour government's plan was "no more than a sticking plaster."

"I don't think released prisoners is going to be enough of a solution, and I think there's a risk if this is rushed we will be releasing people that shouldn't be released", he said.

Buckland said instead he wanted to "hear more from the new government about how we can stop the revolving door of short term sentences."

The former cabinet minister lost his seat at the election last week, but was sent out to represent the government in morning interviews with broadcasters.

On Thursday, the Prime Minister said the scale of the problem was “worse than I thought” and expressed anger at being faced with taking emergency measures so early in his premiership.

The previous government under Rishi Sunak triggered emergency measures to tackle the prisons crisis, including allowing some prisoners to be released up to 70 days early.

The End of Custody Supervised License Scheme (ECSL) initially involved inmates being released up to 18 days early. That was then extended to between 35 and 60 days in March, and further extended to 70 days in May.

New government figures released on Friday show more than 10,000 prisoners were released up to 70 days early under the scheme.

The aunt of Zara Aleena, who was murdered by a man who had been out of prison on licence for nine days, warned that releasing inmates after serving 40% of their sentences could be “a dangerous gamble with public safety” if the probation service is unable to cope.

Farah Naz told BBC Breakfast: “If the system cannot deal with those people being released into the community, then those people are not going to be supervised adequately.

“And when people, perpetrators, even thieves are not supervised adequately, crime can escalate. It doesn’t always escalate, but it can", she said.

After his election victory last week, Sir Keir Starmer appointed James Timpson OBE, of Timpson shoe repairs, as prison's minister.

Timpson, who is now a Lord, has advocated for employing former prisoners and reforming the UK's prison system.

The Timpsons boss told a Channel 4 podcast last year that "only a third of inmates should actually be in jail", and the country is "addicted to punishment".

A key issue for the government now is whether they decide to bring in any reform to sentencing, putting fewer low level criminals in prison in order to ease overcrowding, and focusing on rehabilitation.

Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, said: “In this moment of crisis for the prisons system, the incoming government has had the good sense to listen to the advice of its officials and introduce further emergency measures to prevent dangerous levels of overcrowding and the criminal justice system literally grinding to a halt.

“Reducing the automatic release point for prisoners serving determinate sentences is the most straightforward and comprehensive way to reduce demand to give our prisons vital breathing space.”

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