Thousands of prisoners in England and Wales could be released up to 18 days early
Thousands of prisoners are set to be released up to 18 days early under plans drawn up by ministers to ease an overcrowding crisis, the Guardian understands.
Government sources said the proposals would apply to any prisoner in England and Wales serving a sentence of less than four years, other than those facing either a standard or fixed-term recall.
The disclosures come as Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, prepares to unveil to the Commons changes aimed at tackling overcrowding after figures last week showed the incarcerated population had hit a record high of 88,225.
Chalk is believed to be rushing out changes after Lord Justice Edis, the senior presiding judge for England and Wales, reportedly asked judges last week to delay sentencing from today for those on bail.
Plans examined by ministers last week said that early release would apply to prisoners at 21 jails across England and Wales whose conditional release dates fall between Monday 16 October and 12 December 2023.
The plan said that the inmates could be released up to 18 days earlier than their conditional release date.
The plan is set to apply to prisoners with and without a fixed abode, sources said, making resettlement planning difficult, especially for those inmates working with multiple agencies to help them secure accommodation and employment on release from prison.
It will also make the coordination of other appointments that prison leavers must undertake on their day of release extremely difficult, sources said.
The plan is similar to a three-year scheme set up by the last Labour government in 2010, which allowed more than 50,000 offenders to walk free 18 days before their sentence reached its halfway point.
Known officially as the end of custody licence, the Labour scheme was heavily criticised by the Conservatives after its introduction in 2007 for being “soft on criminals”.
Andrew Neilson, the director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “If true, this sounds not dissimilar to the end of custody licence scheme run by Labour from 2007 to just before the 2010 general election in response to the same prison population pressures.
“It is important, when there are cases involving serious and violent offences which lead to someone being sentenced to imprisonment, that there is space available. We await the full package of measures so that we can see them in more detail.”
Early release has been part of government plans for decades. It is intended to allow some rehabilitation in the community, while keeping release dates consistent and prison numbers down.
Chalk is expected to tell MPs that rapists will be made to serve their full sentences while fewer “low-level offenders” will be sent to prison under new changes.
Offenders who may have been in line for a short stint in prison could instead be given community services such as cleaning up local neighbourhoods as the government looks to contain the expanding prison population, he will say.
Chalk wrote in the Sunday Telegraph that reports claiming judges were being told not to send rapists to prison because cells were full were “untrue” and that “the most serious and dangerous offenders are being locked away for longer” already.
The Ministry of Justice has been approached for a comment.