One of Labour’s first acts after winning the election was to implement the early release scheme, drawn up by the previous government.
Under the initiative, prisoners can be let out if they have completed 40% of their sentence, rather than 50%, as was previously the case.
The first set of early releases under this strategy came in September, when 1,700 offenders left prison, reducing the overall prison population to 86,333.
At the time of the first releases, prisons were dangerously close to full capacity, with sources telling the there were only 80 vacant spaces remaining across the male estate at one point during the summer.
The current prison population is 87,465, with 1,671 vacant places remaining.
However, there were some serious mistakes by the government.
Some people who should not have been released were set free. Thirty-seven inmates whose sentences had not been properly logged were let out in error. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) says they have now all been returned to custody.
The discovered some released offenders who should have been fitted with an electronic tag to monitor their movements had not been fitted with the device.
Critics have previously voiced concerns about the scheme’s impact on public safety, with a probation union warning it amounted to “moving the problem from one place to another without properly assessing the risks”.
