In a widely expected move to address the prison population crisis, the government has announced that it will lower the automatic release point for certain custodial sentences. Lord chancellor Shabana Mahmood (pictured above) stressed the ’emergency measure’ will not be a permanent change.
The Ministry of Justice said this afternoon that the End of Custody Supervised Licence scheme, which was introduced last October and saw prisoners initially released 18 days early, will end. However, the proportion of certain custodial sentences served in prison will be reduced from the current 50% to 40%, with certain safeguards and exemptions to keep the public safe and release plans to manage them safely in the community.
Sentences for serious violent offences of at least four years and sex offences will be excluded. Offenders for crimes connected to domestic abuse, such as stalking, and controlling and coercive behaviour, will not be released earlier.
Mahmood said today: ‘There is now only one way to avert disaster. I do not choose to do this because I want to… but we are taking every protection that is available to us. Let me be clear, this is an emergency measure. This is not a permanent change. I am unapologetic in my belief that criminals must be punished.’
The ministry said the measure will come into force in September to give the Prison and Probation Service time to plan for offenders’ release.
Mahmood also announced that she plans to recruit more than 1,000 trainee probation officers by March, and publish a 10-year capacity strategy this autumn as well as an ‘Annual Statement’ on prison capacity.
Mahmood said the measures she has set out are ‘not a silver bullet’ but gave the government time to address the prison crisis for years to come.
Law Society president Nick Emmerson said Mahmood had acted pragmatically and decisively to tackle a crisis she inherited. He added: ‘When the justice system is in crisis the rule of law and public protection are at risk. The emergency in our prisons illustrates the consequences of the neglect of the criminal justice system. We hope this announcement will create the time and space for a more fundamental review of solutions to this wider crisis.’
