1,100 more prisoners to be released early to address overcrowding

THE GOVERNMENT will release 1,100 more prisoners early as part of an initiative to ease overcrowding in prisons across England and Wales.

According to a report from the BBC, those convicted of murder, sex crimes, or terrorism will not be eligible, but prisoners serving sentences longer than five years are now qualified for early release.

Most of those released will come from open prisons.

The early release scheme began in September and is projected to free up approximately 5,500 prison spaces.

The releases come as the government initiates a major review of prison sentencing, led by former Conservative justice secretary David Gauke.

This review will explore long-term measures to increase prison capacity, such as scrapping short prison sentences and improving rehabilitation programmes for long-term inmates.

One measure under consideration is the introduction of house arrest, which could be monitored using advanced electronic tagging technology, including smart devices piloted in the US, reported the BBC. These devices could send 'nudge' messages to remind offenders to follow their rehabilitation programmes.

Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood emphasised the opportunity to reshape punishment outside of prison but assured that dangerous offenders would always face incarceration.

The first wave of early releases, under the previous government's strategy, occurred in September when 1,700 prisoners were released. At that time, the prison population was reduced to 86,333, with only 80 vacant spaces available.

As of now, the prison population stands at 87,465, with 1,671 vacant spaces remaining.

The initiative has faced criticism. Thirty-seven inmates were released in error due to improper logging of their sentences, though all have been returned to custody, according to the Ministry of Justice.

Some prisoners were also released without electronic tags, raising public safety concerns.