Prisoners could be released from jail two months early, the justice secretary has announced, as the pressure on overcrowded prisons intensifies.
In a written ministerial statement, Alex Chalk said prisons in England and Wales would have licence to release “certain low-level offenders” up to 35 days before their sentence was due to end. Officials said the statement would also allow the UK government to extend early release to up to 60 days if necessary in the future.
Male prisons are 99.7% full, with just 238 spaces left out of an operational capacity of 85,000, according to the Daily Telegraph, while women’s jails are 96.9% full with just 118 spaces left.
Chalk announced in October that the government would use the powers it had to allow the Prison Service to let some prisoners out of jail up to 18 days early to ease overcrowding. This did not apply to anyone serving a life sentence, an extended determinate sentence, a sentence for an offence of particular concern, anyone convicted of a serious violence offence, anyone convicted of terrorism, or anyone convicted of a sex offence.
He also said the power would only be used in certain areas, for a limited period, and that offenders let out early would be subject to conditions which could include tagging.
In Monday night’s statement, Chalk said there was a need to “address the unsustainable growth in the remand population” since the coronavirus pandemic, saying those held in remand had increased by more than 6,000 in 2019 to more than 16,000 at present.
He added: “We will also extend the existing end of custody supervised licence measure to around 35-60 days. We will enable this to happen, for a time-limited period, and work with the police, prisons and probation leaders to make further adjustments as required.
“This will only be for certain low-level offenders. Where necessary, electronic monitoring will be applied, enhancing public protection. Ministers will continue to keep use of this measure under review.”
Chalk also shared plans to reduce the number of foreign prisoners, who make up more than 10,000 of prisoners in England and Wales, by restricting visas for any country “where no progress on … removals can be made”. He said his measures would allow for almost double the number of foreign prisoners to be returned directly from prison in 2024, compared with last year.
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Shabana Mahmood, Labour’s shadow justice secretary, criticised the plans to extend the scheme to 60 days, saying it had been “snuck out” on Monday night “under the cover of darkness”.
Mahmood said: “The public will be rightly alarmed. This government has been releasing prisoners in secret, including domestic abusers – and has activated a supposedly temporary scheme indefinitely. This is completely unacceptable and the justice secretary has a duty to be candid with the public.”