No 10 warns of ‘unchecked criminality’ if prison spaces are not freed up

Hundreds of prisoners must be released early to avoid “unchecked criminality” where the police and courts are unable to lock anyone up, Downing Street said.

Around 1,700 inmates are expected to be let out on Tuesday in an attempt to ease overcrowding in prisons.

Downing Street acknowledged it was “incredibly difficult” for victims to know that the offenders were being released before completing their sentence.

On Saturday, Sir Keir Starmer said he had been forced into the position because the Tory government had not built enough prison capacity.

A No 10 spokeswoman said: “As the Prime Minister said this weekend, no prime minister should be in a position where there are not enough prison places.

“That is why we took the immediate decision that we did. And without doing so, prisons would have completely run out of places, and we faced unchecked criminality on our streets with police unable to make arrests.”

She added: “This is another difficult, tough, but necessary action that we’ve taken.

“The approach that the Government’s taken is to ensure that we have safeguards in place so that we can protect the public, and we also recognise  how incredibly difficult this will be for victims, and most importantly, under the release plans – which must be in place for every prisoner leaving – under those plans, victims will be told ahead of time. That is important.

“There are also exemptions to ensure that offenders for violent and serious offences are not eligible for release under the scheme.

“Similarly, everyone must be released with a release plan that includes having somewhere to live once they leave prison and support to find work.”

Under the scheme, some offenders will be released after serving just 40% of their custodial term.

Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson told the BBC: “For those who will be released tomorrow, probation have been working very hard to make sure that there are plans in place.

“People are released on licence and can be recalled if they commit further offences.

“So there’s a whole range of things that are already in place to make sure tomorrow goes as well as we can expect, but clearly nobody wants to be doing this.”

Asked how many prisoners were due to be released on Tuesday, she said: “I understand it’s in the region of about 1,700.”

Domestic abuse charities warned that the scheme may come at the expense of women and children’s safety, while others raised concerns that it would push probation services to breaking point.

Jessica Eagelton, head of policy and public affairs at Refuge, said: “We are concerned the SDS40 early release scheme may come at the expense of domestic abuse survivors’ safety.

“We welcome the Government’s plans to ensure some perpetrators of domestic abuse are not released early from prison, however, the list of exemptions is not comprehensive enough.

“As it stands, the early release exemption list will not include all domestic abuse offenders, for example, those charged with common assault.

“It will also not include those offenders with a history of domestic abuse who are serving a prison sentence for an unrelated offence, meaning some domestic abuse perpetrators will be released from prison early under SDS40.

“Even though offenders released will be monitored by the Probation Service, previous concerns have been raised about the probation service’s ability to adequately monitor domestic abuse perpetrators.”

Isabelle Younane, head of external affairs at Women’s Aid, said: “We recognise that overcrowding is a serious issue that the Government needs to take urgent action to address, however, Women’s Aid is concerned that the policy is coming at the price of safety for women and children.

“We have been assured that prisoners convicted of sexual and some domestic abuse offences will not be among those released, but sadly we are hearing from our member services across the country that many perpetrators are slipping through the net, having been convicted of other related offences, such as assault.

“The early release of perpetrators will have a detrimental impact on both the physical safety and mental wellbeing of survivors, who have been able to live in safety and begun to rebuild their lives free from fear while their abuser was in prison.

“The early release scheme relies heavily on an already overstretched and struggling probation service, and we fear that the release of such high volumes of prisoners at once will push them to breaking point.”

Organisations that help offenders leaving prison said the move was a “vital step” to tackle overcrowding but warned it “risks compromising rehabilitation” if adequate support is not provided.

Matt Randle, director of justice at Catch22, said: “The SDS40 early release scheme is (…) a vital step to help ease the pressures on our prison system; but is one that should be used in tandem with longer-term solutions to the myriad issues driving these population pressures.

“Critically, we know that SDS40’s limiting factor will be whether support in the community is robust enough to ensure that individuals resettle effectively and avoid falling into the revolving door of recall and reoffending.”

A spokesperson for London-based rehabilitation charity Switchback said: “The early release measures are a necessary emergency action to tackle overcrowding, but these measures must be paired with investment in effective resettlement to stabilise the justice system and make a sustainable impact.

“Many young men are being released without a proper plan or access to support on housing, employment, finance or mental health.

“As a result, the release scheme risks compromising rehabilitation and increasing reoffending rates unless backed by proper support and effective resettlement.”

Law Society of England and Wales president Nick Emmerson said: “The early release scheme is a pragmatic response to the chronic lack of jail spaces.

“While not an ideal step to take, in view of the parlous state of our prisons, it enables more time and space for longer-term solutions to the many problems bedevilling our criminal justice system.”