Early release of prisoners extended to 70 days – report

Some prisoners could have up to 70 days shaved off their jail sentences as ministers reportedly extended a parole scheme in a bid to reduce prison overcrowding.

The Times reported that it had seen an email to probation and prison staff saying the scheme would be extended from 35 days to 70 days from May 23.

The email said that despite measures introduced less than two months ago to free up space, prisons are facing “significant challenges” and that “pressure on the male ward continues” in England and Wales, according to the newspaper.

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk announced in October that the government would use its powers to allow the prison service to release some prisoners up to 18 days early to reduce overcrowding.

In March he extended the so-called supervised end-of-custody licensing system “to around 35 to 60 days” as Ministry of Justice statistics showed prisons in England and Wales were still approaching capacity.

The government emphasized that the measure would be temporary and only apply to “low-level offenders.”

Ministers reportedly quietly approved the latest change, without any formal announcement.

Labor shadow justice secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “The Tories have once again used a cloak of secrecy to hide their early release of violent criminals.

“This is a national scandal, the public has a right to the truth.

“Rishi Sunak must come clean to the public today.”

Mr Chalk was previously criticized for making the March announcement via a written ministerial statement to Parliament after 8pm, before personally going to the House of Commons the next day to update MPs.

The Ministry of Justice emphasized that offenders released early were under strict supervision.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “We will always ensure there is sufficient capacity to keep dangerous offenders behind bars.

“We are carrying out the largest prison expansion program in a century, opening 20,000 modern places and stepping up work to remove foreign offenders.

“To ease pressure on prisons in the short term, in March we announced an increase in the number of days that governors can, under existing powers, transfer some offenders to license at the end of their prison sentence.

“These offenders will continue to be supervised under strict conditions, such as tagging and a curfew.”