Another 1,100 prisoners to be freed next week as part of government's early release scheme
19 October 2024, 15:00
Drug dealers and fraudsters are among 1,100 prisoners set to be freed next week as part of the government's early release scheme.
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The prisoners form the second round of early releases, after 1,700 inmates were originally set free last month.
It comes as part of the government's policy to reduce the proportion of a sentence most offenders must serve behind bars from 50% to 40%.
After the first round of releases, the prison population fell from a record of 88,521 to 86,333.
However, numbers have since risen again, reaching 87,028 on Friday - just below the levels seen when Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced the plans in July.
At the time, Ms Mahmood warned that prisons risked running out of space, potentially causing the collapse of the justice system as courts would have nowhere to send convicted criminals.
Read more: Security firm that failed to tag prisoners after prison release slapped with six figure fine
The early release scheme does not apply to some inmates, including those convicted of sexual, domestic abuse or terrorism offences, or violent offenders serving sentences of more than four years.
The first round of releases saw 37 inmates allowed out in error after their sentences were not correctly logged.
Ms Mahmood confirmed on Thursday that all 37 were back in custody.
A review of sentencing is expected to be launched during the week, with several reforms set to be considered.
They include looking at whether tougher community sentences would be more effective than short spells in prison.
It comes after Ms Mahmood announced that magistrates' sentencing powers will be doubled again, allowing them to jail criminals for up to a year.
The move is intended to ease the backlog in the crown courts and reduce the number of remand prisoners waiting to receive sentences, but the Justice Secretary acknowledged this would initially "see a slight increase in the overall prison population".
However, the Criminal Bar Association warned that extending magistrates' powers was a "short-term and long-term backfire" as it could "sharply increase" the overall prison population within a matter of months.
