The prison population in England and Wales has risen by 93 per cent in the past 30 years and currently stands at just over 87,000.
It is predicted to rise as high as 114,800 by March 2028.
Labour has criticised the previous Tory government for failing to get the rising prison population under control.
Keir Starmer believes his plan is one way to tackle the problem of overcrowding but it has faced criticism.
The Justice Secretary said rates of recall in the cohort of early releases are "broadly in line" with usual prison releases after a probation officers' union said a "significant number" had been recalled to custody.
Shabana Mahmood told LBC: "We'll do a statistics release in due course, as we normally would, on rates of recall and on reoffending in our prison estate.
"What I can tell you is our early assessment is that the rates of recall and potential reoffending in the cohort that has been released as a result of the emergency release measures is broadly in line with what we would expect."
She said there was "no doubt" that recalls put pressure on the prison system but said they are an "important mechanism".
"Because at the end of the day, when somebody is still serving a sentence but they're not in prison, they're out in the community, they are subject to strict license conditions. You break those conditions, you do go back to prison."
Criminals could serve sentences at home under house arrest as part of government plans to “reshape and redesign” punishments outside prison.
Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, pictured below, is carrying out a sentencing review, with plans for a major expansion of community punishments as an alternative to jail, in which judges use technology to create virtual “prisons outside of prison”.
