Prisoner release details
And why public servants will have to observe a duty of candour
The government has published details of its plans to release prisoners on licence after they have served 40% of their sentences. Those on fixed sentences currently serve 50%.
Prisoners in England and Wales will be released in two groups to ensure that they can be managed by probation and other community services.
Those who have not yet reached their halfway point of their sentences by 10 September will qualify for release at the 40% mark provided they were serving no longer than five years in total.
Prisoners sentenced to more than five years before that date will qualify for early release on 22 October.
The order applies to prisoners who have not passed the current 50% release point on the day it comes into effect. So it will apply to existing prisoners serving qualifying sentences as well as any new sentences imposed after commencement.
However, the reforms do not apply to specified sex offences of any length; serious violent offences with a sentence of four years or more; specified offences of any length linked to domestic abuse, including stalking; and offences related to national security.
They do not apply either to prisoners who have already been released early under other measures, such as home detention curfew.
Shabana Mahmood promised MPs she would review the changes in 18 months’ time. The justice secretary’s draft Criminal Justice Act 2003 (Requisite and Minimum Custodial Periods) Order 2024 — which comes with a much-needed explanatory note — will be considered by MPs on 25 July. It also requires approval by the House of Lords.
A government impact assessment estimates that this could reduce the prison population by between 4,900 and 6,200 places while the policy remains in force. Although there will be additional costs for the probation service and for housing prisoners in the community, the total annual saving is estimated at £190m.
“Should this policy run indefinitely,” says the impact assessment, “it could mean fewer prison places will need to be built.” The cost of building a single new prison place is estimated at £500,000.
A draft explanatory memorandum says:
This approach of changing the automatic release point for eligible standard determinate sentences with a current release point of 50% to 40% is to provide a sustainable and manageable solution to current prison capacity pressures.
It is critical that there are sufficient prison places to avoid criminal justice gridlock which would see the police no longer able to arrest criminals in the normal way.
Duty of candour
Legislation will “introduce a duty of candour for public servants”, we were told in the King’s Speech on Wednesday. What does that mean? I have been examining some of the government’s legislative plans in my latest column for the Law Society Gazette.