Around 1,750 prisoners to be released in UK to ease prison overcrowding

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) – Around 1,750 prisoners are set to be released early in England and Wales on Tuesday in a bid to ease prison overcrowding, a move described as "risky" by the chief inspector.

Official figures released last week revealed that the prison population in England and Wales stood at 88,521, the highest number since the Ministry of Justice began publishing weekly figures 13 years ago.

To ease overcrowding, around 1,750 prisoners will be released early on Tuesday, with the exception of sexual offenses, serious violence, and terrorism, as well as some cases involving domestic abuse.

According to the government, it took the decision as early as possible to give probation services time to prepare.

Speaking to Sky News, Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons for England and Wales, warned that this early release of offenders would be "risky."

"...We've got 1,700 other prisoners, and then in October, we have another tranche of around 2,000 coming out as well, inevitably, that puts some risks into local communities and greater strain on already stretched probation services," he noted.

Separately, the government released an annual report on the current state of prisons in England and Wales for the period of April 2023 to March 2024, showing that there is an increase in prison population by 3,497, a 4% rise from the previous year.

"Despite projections as far back as 2018 predicting this rise, successive governments have failed to build enough capacity to keep pace," noted the report.

It said population pressures have predominately been caused by a substantial increase in the number of remanded prisoners and the trend, which began back in the 1990s, to increase the length of prison sentences.

"The previous government’s early release scheme lessened some pressures temporarily, but did not solve the problem," added the report.