One of the new government’s first decisions was to announce that most prisoners would be released 40 per cent of the way through their sentence, not half-way through as had been the case before. In July the expectation was that around 5,500 inmates would be released early. In fact 1,700 were released in September, and around 1,100 are expected to be released this week. This, combined with the 600 extra prisoners after August’s riots, and the ongoing growth in the prison population, means we will soon run out of space again.
What’s the point in releasing people 40 per cent of the way through their sentence, if they’re likely to be recalled to serve the rest within months?
There’s currently space for 89,136 people in our prisons. In September, just after the first wave of early releases, the prison population was 86,333. On Friday it had risen to 87,028. Even allowing for this week’s releases, if that growth rate continues our prisons will be full by the spring.
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