Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he will review the early prisoner release policy, as the government faces continuing pressure on prison places. Speaking to reporters in Bath, Burnham said the early prisoner release policy could not yet be overhauled outright, but that he would examine it closely before taking the next step.
Burnham said he could not promise to change the policy completely, but wanted to study it in detail before the government went any further. He said there was clear strain on the prison system and described the failure to invest properly in prisons in past years as having created an unacceptable situation.
According to the source, tens of thousands of inmates have been released early since September 2024 to make room in crowded jails. Overcrowding in the prison estate has been a long-running problem, and successive governments have used early release in an effort to free up space. The early prisoner release policy was also put in place through the Sentencing Act, which was passed by Sir Keir Starmer's government earlier this year.
