The second wave of early prison releases is under way across England and Wales, with hundreds of offenders leaving custody this month under the government’s plan to reduce overcrowding.
About 2,000 people, including domestic abusers and violent offenders, are being released in October, with a further 3,000 scheduled in stages over the next year. The overall total was cut from 6,000 following an intervention by Andy Burnham.
Those convicted of manslaughter are not eligible. As a result, the killers of PC Andrew Harper, who died in the line of duty in 2019, will not be considered for the scheme.
The second tranche comes as members of the probation union Napo hold a pre-ballot meeting on potential strike action over pay and workloads.
Pay talks with probation officers concluded with what was described as a best and final conditional pay offer worth 5 percent, which Napo’s negotiating committee rejected. Members will be asked to vote on industrial action over pay and to answer a question on workloads in a formal ballot due to begin on 19 October.
The union says probation staff have been tasked with substantial additional duties because tens of thousands of prisoners have been released early from prisons since 2022.
The number of people held in custody has risen by more than 1,700 in the past three months. Ministry of Justice figures show the prison population in England and Wales stood at 87,499 on Monday, up from 85,761 on 29 June, a 2 percent increase.
Early prison releases paired with tougher supervision
The Ministry of Justice said offenders leaving under the scheme would be supervised under what it described as the toughest monitoring regime in British history. New restriction zones intended to manage the movements of the highest-risk sexual and violent offenders are designed to confine them to areas only a few miles across, with the aim of reassuring victims.
The department also announced wider use of electronic monitoring, introducing a presumption that offenders will be tagged upon release. Technology being introduced this year is expected to give probation services near-live access to tagging data, which officials say will help staff detect breaches quickly.
Earlier this month, the victims’ commissioner, Claire Waxman, said the government’s confidence in the approach “is not yet matched by the reality on the ground.”
The government’s wider use of electronic monitoring and tagging comes as countries around the world confront prison overcrowding and scrutiny of criminal justice systems, including the United States, where cases such as Christa Pike’s failed Tennessee execution have drawn international attention.
Waxman’s role as victims’ commissioner sits alongside other official oversight positions in the justice system, such as the work of the Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales in advocating for victims’ rights.