Secretary of State for Justice Shabana Mahood to release 5,500 prisoners early. Prisoners will be released from September onwards. This will be reviewed in 18 months' time.
A video is available at the end of this statement.
Secretary of State for Justice Shabana Mahood's statement
We now come to the statement on prison capacity. Mister Speaker. With permission, I would like to make a statement about prison capacity in England and Wales. As you know, I wanted to make this announcement first in this house. However, given the scale of the emergency facing our prisons, I was forced to set out these measures before parliament returned.
It has become clear since this government took office 2 weeks ago that our prisons are in crisis and at the point of collapse. The male prison estate has been running at over 99% capacity for the last 18 months. We now know that my predecessor warned 10 Downing Street. But rather than address this crisis, the former prime minister called an election, leaving a time bomb ticking away. Mister Speaker, if that bomb goes off, if our prisons run out of space, the courts would grind to a halt, suspects could not be held in custody, and police officers would be unable to make arrests, leaving criminals free to act without consequence.
In short, Mister Speaker, if we fail to act now, we face the prospect of a total breakdown of law and order. Rather than act, the last prime minister allowed us to edge ever closer to catastrophe. Last week, there were around 700 spaces remaining in the male prison estate. With 300 places left, we reach critical capacity. At that point, the smallest change could trigger the chain of events I just set out.
With the prison population rising, it is now clear that by September of this year, our prisons will overflow. Mister Speaker, that means there is now only one way to avert disaster. As the house knows, most of those serving standard determinant the to introduce a temporary change in the law. Yesterday, we laid a statutory instrument in draft. Subject to the agreement of both houses, those serving eligible standard determinant sentences will leave prison after serving 40 rather than 50% of their sentence in custody and the rest on license.
Our impact assessment estimates that around 5,500 offenders will be released in September, October. From that time until we are able to reverse this emergency measure, 40% will be the new point of automatic release for eligible standard determinate sentences. The government does not take this decision lightly, but to disguise reality and delay any further as the last government did is unconscionable. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. And we are clear that this is the safest way forward. In the words of the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, sir Mark Rowley, these steps are, and I quote, the least worst option. The worst possible thing, he said, would be for the system to block. Any alternative to these measures would be, and I quote again, dangerous for the public.
Mister Speaker, I understand that some may feel worried by this decision, but I can assure the House that we are taking every precaution available to us. Yeah. There will be important exclusions. Sentences for the most dangerous crimes for sexual and serious violent offences will not change. This will also be the case for a series of offences linked to domestic violence, including stalking, controlling or coercive behaviour, and non fatal strangulation, as well as those related to national security.
We will also implement stringent protections. first, this change will not take effect until early September, giving the probation service time to prepare. Second, all offenders released will be subject to strict license conditions to ensure that they can be managed safely in the community. Third, offenders can be ordered to wear electronic tags, and curfews will be imposed where appropriate. And finally, if offenders breach the conditions of their license, they can be returned to prison immediately.
Mister Speaker, let me be clear. This is an emergency measure, not a permanent change. This government is clear that criminals must be punished.
We do not intend to allow the 40% release point to stand in perpetuity. And that is why I will review these measures again in 18 months' time when the situation in our prisons will have stabilised. Throughout, this government will be transparent. We will publish data on the number of offenders released on a quarterly basis, and we will publish an annual prison capacity statement, legislating to make this a statutory requirement. Mister Speaker, when we implement this change, we will stop the end of custody supervised license scheme introduced by the last government.
This scheme operated under a veil of secrecy. From the bench's opposite, I was forced to demand more information about who was being released and what crimes they had committed. This government has now released that data showing that over 10,000 offenders were released early, often with very little warning to probation officers, placing them under enormous strain. Mister Speaker, this was only ever a short term fix.
Mister Speaker, the measures I have set out today are not a silver bullet. The capacity crisis will not disappear immediately, and these measures will take time to take effect. But when they do, they will give us the time to address the prison's crisis, not just today, but for years to come. This includes accelerating the prison building program to ensure that we have the cells that we need. Later this year, we will publish a 10 year capacity strategy.
It will outline the steps the government will take to acquire land for new prison sites and classify prisons as being of national importance, placing decision making in ministers' hands. This government is also committed to longer term reform and cutting reoffending. Mister Speaker, too often our prisons create better criminals, not better citizens. And nearly 80% of offending is reoffending, all at immense cost to communities and the taxpayer. As law chancellor, my priority is to drive that number down.
To do that, this government will strengthen probation, starting with the recruitment of at least 1,000 new trainee probation officers by the end of March 2025. And we will work with prisons to improve offenders' access to learning and other training, as well as bringing together prison governors, local employers, and the voluntary sector to get expenders into work. Because we know that an if an offender has a job within a year of release, they are less likely to reoffend. This is only by driving down reoffending that we will find a sustainable solution to the prison's crisis. In a speech last week, I called the last occupants of Downing Street the guilty men.
I did not use that analogy flippantly. I believe they placed the country in grave danger. Their legacy is a prison system in crisis, moments from catastrophic disaster. It was only by pure luck and the heroic efforts of prison and probation staff that disaster did not strike while they were in office.
Mister Speaker, the legacy of this government will be different. A prison system brought under control, a probation service that keeps the public safe, enough prison places to meet our needs, and prisons, probation, and other services working together to break the cycle of reoffending and so cut crime. Mister Speaker, I never thought that I would have to announce the measures I have set out today. But this government has been forced by the scale of this emergency to act now.
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