Hundreds of prisoners released early as scheme becomes permanent

Hundreds of prisoners in England and Wales are being released early from prison, with around 700 expected to leave on the first day of a scheme that the government says is needed to stop the prison system running out of places. The scheme is now part of the law, rather than a short-term emergency measure. Some inmates will be freed after serving one third of their sentence instead of half, while more serious offenders will be released at the halfway point instead of two thirds. Roughly 5,000 prisoners are expected to be let out over the next year.

The context is severe overcrowding. Almost 84,000 men are currently in prison in England and Wales. Just over 1,000 beds were available this week, the lowest number this year, and men's prisons are more than 98 per cent full. Reports said prisons were at 98 per cent capacity with fewer than 2,000 places left, and warned that places could run out by November. Prison staff have said that unless some prisoners are released, the criminal justice system will grind to a halt.

The government has changed the eligibility rules after public condemnation. Convicted rapists, serious child sex offenders and groomers are now excluded from early release. Murderers and those convicted of manslaughter are also excluded. The changes followed a national row over the killers of PC Andrew Harper, which led to manslaughter being added to the exemptions. Domestic abuse and coercive control offences are not excluded, and that has caused sharp concern among victims and support groups.

Women whose former partners were convicted of coercive control have said they fear for their lives when their abusers are freed. One woman said she was scared her former partner could kill her. Another said there were no guarantees that she would be safe. The Domestic Abuse Commissioner, Nicole Jacobs, said victims of domestic abuse were paying the price for years of poor planning and for a criminal justice system that has not put victim safety first. She said she could not be certain that every victim would be contacted before an offender's release, and that a promised probation-run helpline had not been stood up. She also pointed to a probation inspectorate finding that half of tags were not being used appropriately.

The Ministry of Justice said it was investing £1 billion in support services, placing domestic abuse specialists in 999 call centres and rolling out stronger protection orders. It said anyone released would face the toughest ever controls on their movements, including restriction zones and the largest expansion of electronic tagging, with victims having a say in licence conditions.

Police and probation leaders have warned about the operational strain. A Metropolitan Police team that tracks wanted offenders said there were not enough officers to manage the extra workload. Officers described responding to tag breaches, including an alleged sex offender awaiting trial, and said delays in tagging reports could mean crimes are committed before police can act. One inspector said more offenders out on tag would probably mean more offences in the community. The Justice Secretary, Alex Norris, said the government had been preparing for two years and had invested in staffing, tagging, alcohol tags, restrictions and probation. He said offenders who broke the rules could be returned to prison.

Political debate has focused on how the system reached this point. A former minister involved in an independent sentencing review said the review had recommended early release, but the government had walked away from parts of it in two stages and was using up the extra capacity the changes had created. He warned that prisons could be full again within a couple of years, and that emergency release schemes were worse than planned ones. Others argued that successive governments had failed to build enough prisons. The government says it is building 14,000 prison places by 2031, though ministers were pressed on the net number of spaces added since taking office. A Treasury minister said he was aware of the 14,000 figure by 2031, while a political correspondent said the long-term system had been a mess for years and the short-term problem was acute.