UK begins new early-release scheme as hundreds leave prisons

Hundreds of eligible prisoners in England and Wales are being released under a new early-release policy that came into effect on Thursday, as authorities seek to ease mounting pressure on the country’s prison system.

Under the revised rules, offenders serving prison sentences of up to 19 months may be released after completing one-third of their sentence. The measure is intended to create additional capacity across overcrowded prisons.

The policy comes after the prison system faced severe capacity problems in the summer of 2024, when fewer than 100 spaces were reportedly available. The government has argued that maintaining sufficient prison capacity is essential to ensuring that people arrested for offences can be detained when required.

The early-release programme has faced criticism from opposition politicians, who have raised concerns about the potential release of offenders they consider a risk to the public.

Treasury Minister James Murray defended the policy, saying that a lack of prison space could itself create problems for public safety because authorities need room to accommodate people arrested and suspected of committing crimes.

The government is also expanding the prison estate to address the longer-term capacity shortage. More than 3,200 additional prison places have reportedly been created under the current administration, while plans call for around 14,000 more places by 2031.

The expansion is being described by the government as the largest programme of prison construction since the Victorian era.

Official figures show that more than 70,000 prisoners had already been released under an earlier early-release scheme introduced in 2024.

The latest changes are expected to provide further relief to England and Wales’ overcrowded prison system while authorities continue efforts to expand available prison capacity.