Today’s figures are the first published since the government’s temporary early release scheme came into force earlier this week.
The prison population in England and Wales has fallen by more than 2,000 in just one week since the launch of a government programme to ease overcrowding.
On Tuesday 10 September, a temporary early release programme aimed at releasing around 1,750 prisoners who had completed 40 per cent of their sentences instead of the usual 50 per cent.
The prisoners released early on Tuesday were those with less than five years in prison.
On 22 October it will be the turn of those sentenced to more than five years in prison, but the government claims that the programme will not apply to the most serious criminals such as murderers, rapists or terrorists.
Last Friday the prison population was 88,521.
Today that number has fallen by 2,188 to 86,333.
The release programme is aimed at freeing up space in the country’s overcrowded prisons.
Ministers blamed the legacy of the previous Conservative government and said doing nothing was “unthinkable” and would lead to “a complete collapse of the criminal justice system”.
But concerns have been raised about safety and whether detainees are rehabilitated enough to be released.
Earlier this week, HMP Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor said prisons risk becoming a “revolving door” because inmates “are not doing the work necessary to be successful after release”.
Typically, 1,000 inmates leave prison every week, so this, in addition to the early release programme, would “pose a degree of risk to the community and put even greater strain on an already overstretched probation service”.
Minister of Justice Shabana Mahmood explained the decision: “We did not want to make such a change. It was the only option left to us, because the alternative would have been a complete breakdown of the criminal justice system.
“We would have seen a breakdown of law and order because the courts could not deliver trials and the police could not make arrests.”
