More than 70,000 prisoners freed early as Labour admits release scheme 'likely' behind recall surge

RSS Aggregator

Jul 30, 2026 - 11:14

More than 70,000 prisoners freed early as Labour admits release scheme 'likely' behind recall surge

More than 70,000 prisoners in England and Wales have been released from jail under the Government’s early release scheme to tackle overcrowding, with more than 50,000 recalled in the same timeframe.

Some 70,066 inmates had been freed as of the end of March 2026, according to figures published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ)

The scheme was launched as an emergency measure on September 10 2024, just days after the prison population reached a record high of 88,521.

It allows eligible prisoners to be released after serving only 40 per cent of their fixed-term sentence, rather than the usual 50 per cent.

Amid the releases, 51,419 prisoners were recalled to prison in the same period to March this year, after breaching the terms of their licence.

This is up 28 per cent from 40,259 in the previous 12 month period, and is the highest number since current data began in 2015.

The ongoing early release of certain types of prisoner is one of a number of recent policies “likely” to have contributed to the rise in recalls, the MoJ said.

The current scheme for the early release of prisoners replaced a separate scheme introduced by the previous Conservative government.

Under this separate process, 13,325 prisoners in England and Wales were freed early between October 17 2023 and September 9 2024