Early Release of Prisoners Could Land Andy Burnham in the Slammer

The early release scheme kicked into action yesterday, with the first batch of prisoners being released after serving 40% of their sentence or more. Hundreds of prisoners across England and Wales, whose sentences were up to 19 months, were let out early. Have Andy Burnham and his cabinet have become radical prison abolitionists?

Not quite. Labour were bounced into it by the dangerously overcrowded prisons system: a result of the Conservative government being keen to jail more people, but reluctant to build more prisons. The scheme will progress through phases into the summer of next year, when by June inmates serving more than 12 years will be eligible for release.

The previous Labour government had little choice but to introduce legislation designed to alleviate pressure on prison cells. This past summer, the adult male prisons estate was running at 98% capacity – putting us at one IKEA riot away from system collapse (real ones will remember). But the road to early release had some bumps along the way.

Newly-minted Prime Minister Burnham found himself in hot water when it emerged that the young men convicted of killing PC Harper in 2019, when he was dragged by a car as they fled the scene of a theft, would be eligible for early release. One million people signed a petition demanding they remain incarcerated; Andrew Harper’s widow made high-profile media interventions; and dozens of police chiefs put their name to a letter urging Burnham to pursue “every legal option” to prevent the early release of the two men.

The government ultimately acquiesced, adding those convicted of manslaughter to the exclusion list of those ineligible for early release (which already included people convicted of murder, and sexual offences such as rape, serious sexual offences against children and indecent assault). But the pressure is still on. Domestic violence charities and advocates have warned of the risk posed to abuse survivors as perpetrators exit prison early.

There’s little reason to suggest that those being released early have had the benefit of meaningful, rehabilitative interventions while inside. One man released yesterday said that he’d only had “one hour” outside every day; another said that he’d only found out that he was being released that very morning. There’s evidence to suggest that some people are being released with little to no support waiting for them on the outside.

Tom, released from Cardiff prison yesterday, told reporters that he’d probably be back in prison within weeks. “They have given me £100 and kicked me out and I have nowhere to go,” he said.

“You cannot be homeless and sober at the same time. If I had somewhere to live, half this shit wouldn’t have happened.”

The stats back him up. The overall reoffending rate in England and Wales (i.e. those who will commit an offence within a year of being released from custody) is just shy of 30%. But that soars to 70.9% for homeless rough sleepers, and 56.5% for homeless non-rough sleepers. Though the government is dedicated to freeing up space on the prison estate, there isn’t much to suggest that sufficient work is being done to make sure that those released are able to stay out of prison in the medium-to-long term.

The political risks for Andy Burnham, and Justice Secretary Alex Norris, are obvious. As the scheme moves through the gears, and those convicted of more serious, violent offences are let out early, all it takes is one particularly gruesome instance of reoffending for the government to be slammed for having blood on their hands.

Norris has insisted that “release from the prison doesn’t mean freedom”, drawing attention to the use of exclusion zones, tagging, curfews and alcohol monitoring to manage recently-released individuals. But prisoner recalls – those returning to prison because they breached the terms of their release, for faced further charges – have risen year-on-year since 2022, and contribute to pressure on the system. As one former chief inspector of prisons told The Telegraph, the government may have slowed the rate of growth in the prison population, but it’s “very dubious” whether those measures will be sufficient to make sure the system doesn’t run out of space again.

A short walk to freedom for inmates; and a tight window of reprieve for the government.