More prisoners were released early to reduce overcrowding

The government is releasing a further 1,100 prisoners early as part of its emergency plan to reduce prison overcrowding in England and Wales.

Offenders serving more than five years are released after spending 40% of their time behind bars, a scheme that excludes those convicted of serious violence, sex crimes and terrorism.

The second set of emergency releases since September comes as ministers launch a major sentencing overhaul with a focus on new forms of punishment outside prison.

The review aims to reduce overcrowding and could see judges given the power to sentence people to “prison outside prison” with a form of house arrest.

Justice Minister Shabana Mahmood told the House of Commons on Tuesday that the government “must start building more prisons”, but acknowledged that “we cannot build a way out of this problem”.

The prison population has grown by about 4,500 a year – faster than previous governments had built new cells.

The Justice Secretary said the Labor government would build 14,000 spaces promised but not delivered by the Conservatives, but he also wanted to change the way penalties work to prevent the overcrowding crisis from happening again.

Mahmood said that while there will always be some offenders who need to be locked up, the government should “expand the range of punishments beyond prison” and consider how to punish those who do not pose a danger to society.

Tuesday’s early releases are the second and final part of the emergency plan announced by ministers days after the general election, which aimed to free up 5,500 prison spaces in England and Wales.

Many of those leaving prison on Tuesday will be from open prisons, meaning they have worked towards rehabilitation.

At HMP Swaleside in Kent, a prisoner was reunited with his children, while another prisoner was welcomed with a hug as he was picked up in a black Rolls-Royce by a group of men in matching hoodies.

At HMP Manchester, known locally as Strangeways, around a dozen prisoners emerged from behind the Victorian-era prison’s giant steel doors.

One man said the new scheme had allowed him to be released nine months early after serving a sentence of seven years and six months.

It was not clear whether the others had also been released early or had served their sentences.

Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said that while the Prime Minister “shares the public’s anger” at the scenes of people leaving prison early, “there was no choice not to act”.

“If we had not acted, we would have faced a complete paralysis of the system.”

The sentencing review will be led by David Gauke, a former Conservative justice minister.

His report, expected next spring, will look at replacing short prison sentences with new forms of community service and using technology to improve rehabilitation.

Officials have already looked at expanding the use of successful “sobriety tags” that check whether an offender is drinking alcohol.

They also want to look at smart watch-like devices, tested in some parts of the US, that send ‘nudge’ messages to offenders.

Trials have shown that they can improve the way ex-offenders, who often lead chaotic lives, navigate their rehabilitation.

Mahmood said the review would learn from other jurisdictions, including Texas, where the prison population has shrunk and the state government has closed prisons.

She said she would “not tolerate” further early releases and would consider a number of measures while the review was underway, including:

• Extending the use of curfews for home detention, including increasing the maximum time a person can be committed to it from six months to twelve months
• Reviewing the process for offenders recalled while unlicensed
• Investigating options to make the early deportation scheme for foreign detainees more effective

Mahmood said that whatever the final proposals, there must always be a cell available for dangerous offenders – a duty the system came perilously close to failing to meet this summer when it had fewer than 100 available places.

The current prison population is 87,465, with 1,671 places still vacant.

Andrew Nielson, campaign director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, welcomed the sentencing review.

He told the BBC that Tuesday’s emergency release of prisoners was “a very blunt instrument” and “far from an ideal situation” because some prisoners would not be ready to return to the community.

Ian Lawrence, general secretary of the National Association of Probation Officers (Napo), said that while he also supported the government’s commitment to sentencing reform, this “comes at a cost”.

“It means more work for probation staff,” he said, adding that money would be needed to make the probation service a “place where people want to work, rather than retire early because they can’t handle the pressure.” .

One of Labor’s first acts after winning the election was to implement the early release scheme established by the previous government.

The first set of early releases under this strategy came in Septemberwhen 1,700 offenders left prison, reducing the total prison population to 86,333.

However, some serious mistakes have been made by the government.

There are people who should not have been released were released. Thirty-seven prisoners whose sentences were not properly recorded were wrongfully released. The Justice Department says they have all now been returned to custody.

The BBC discovered some released offenders who should have been given an electronic tag to track their movements was not equipped with the device.

Critics have previously raised concerns about the plan’s impact on public safety, with one probation union warning it amounted to “moving the problem from one place to another without properly assessing the risks”.

Although the emergency release has brought the population down from a high of 89,000, officials say prisons could reach a new crisis point from July next year if other measures fail.