UK to release prisoners early as jails reach maximum capacity

Thousands of prisoners will be released early starting in September to prevent the “collapse” of the prison system, the UK’s new justice minister, Shabana Mahmood, announced on Friday.

Mahmood warned that failure to take this action risked the “total breakdown of law and order,” as there are only 700 places left for men and jails have been operating at 99 percent capacity since 2023.

England and Wales have the highest per capita prison population in Western Europe.

The early release initiative will not apply to violent offenders serving more than four years, sex offenders, those imprisoned for domestic abuse offenses, or those serving life sentences.

Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons, emphasized the need for urgent action this week, describing the prisons as being at “breaking point.”

Mahmood, appointed last week following Labour’s general election victory, used dramatic language to illustrate the potential crisis, warning that if prisons ran out of space, “van-loads of dangerous people [would be] circling the country with nowhere to go.”

“With officers unable to act, criminals could do whatever they want, without consequence. We could see looters running amok, smashing windows, robbing shops, and setting neighborhoods alight,” she said during a speech at a prison.

“In short, if we fail to act now, we face the collapse of the criminal justice system and a total breakdown of law and order.”

Under the new plan, prisoners eligible for automatic release after serving half their sentence will be freed earlier than usual.

The plan involves temporarily reducing the required time served from 50 percent to 40 percent of their sentence.

Releases will begin in September to give the Prison and Probation Service time to prepare.

As of Friday, the total number of prisoners exceeded 87,505, with over 83,800 men, leaving only 1,451 spaces available, according to official figures.

Since the start of 2023, men’s prisons have routinely operated at over 99 percent capacity, according to the Ministry of Justice.

Officials state that the prison system needs a buffer of about 1,425 cell spaces in men’s prisons to handle sudden influxes of inmates.

Six new prisons are being built to create an additional 20,000 places.

The Prison Governors’ Association welcomed the swift implementation of these measures but called for a “full review” to ensure that “the public must never be placed in this position again.”

PGA chairman Mark Fairhurst said the measures would free up around 4,500 to 5,000 spaces and provide prisons with about 12 to 18 months before further actions are needed.