Overview
- Ministry of Justice data show 38,042 inmates were released early between the scheme’s launch in September 2024 and the end of June 2025.
- June recorded 4,358 early releases, the highest monthly total since October 2024’s initial surge of backdated cases.
- The emergency policy allows eligible prisoners to leave after serving 40% of fixed-term sentences, excluding sex offences, terrorism and specified serious violent crimes over four years.
- Official figures indicate more than 1,000 people sentenced to 10 years or more were among those released early, despite exclusions for the most serious categories.
- The Sentencing Bill proposes earned-release incentives, tougher community penalties for sentences under 12 months, expanded electronic monitoring and 14,000 extra prison places by 2031, as recalls rose to 11,041 in April–June 2025.