Prison System Strained as Release Errors Increase

Iman Hassan (718236), BA Politics and International Relations

Between March 2024 and March 2025, 262 prisoners were released in error across England and Wales, more than double the 115 recorded in the previous year. To many, the increase reflects mounting pressure on the prison system, driven by rising population levels, staff shortages, and administrative strain. The Lord Chancellor warns that ‘the prison population is now rising by 3,000 each year and we are heading back towards zero capacity.’ 

As the prison population grows, the system faces severe staff shortages. Young, inexperienced prison officers report feeling increasing pressure driven by high levels of verbal and physical abuse from inmates, leading to widespread burnout. Every year, about one in seven junior prison staff leave their roles, compared with one in eight for senior officers. This high turnover deepens the ongoing burnout conditions, leaving less staff to tackle the ever-growing workloads and pressure of a prison system which is already under strain. Mark Fairhurst, head of the Prison Officers’ Association, said officers are ‘left without the proper support, training or technology to do their jobs safely and effectively.’ 

Overcrowding in prisons can be traced back to several systemic issues. Prisoners are serving longer sentences as a result of policy changes under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, which require many serious offenders to serve two-thirds of their sentence rather than half, and limited effectiveness of short-term sentences. This ineffectiveness is evident in the rising number of recalls after parole: nearly 32,500 prison admissions followed recalls in the year to September 2024, and for those serving short custodial sentences between July and September 2024, the rise was 71%, compared with the same period in 2023. As more people enter the system, the resulting backlog has left a growing number of prisoners awaiting trial or sentencing, with the remand population reaching 17,700 as of September 2025, which constitutes around 20% of the entire prison population, and the highest ‘end of September' figure in 50 years. Fairhurst also warned of ‘mounting pressures on staff and the outdated administrative systems across our prisons.’ Additionally, communication breakdowns between prisons and immigration removal centres often occur, leading to confusion and incorrect release. Outdated administrative systems, combined with a lack of investment in technology, including old case-management software, outdated gate-security software and poor integration between prison and probation databases, have increased the risk of human error by overworked and inexperienced staff.

To ease overcrowding, the government introduced the Early Release Scheme in September 2025, an initiative intended to reduce pressure in prisons by releasing certain low-risk inmates early. This scheme allows inmates to be released after serving 40% of their sentence rather than the standard 50%. 

The scheme applies to prisoners assessed as low risk and serving standard determinate sentences, typically those convicted of non-violent or lower-level offences. Those convicted of sexual offences, terrorism-related offences, or crimes connected to national security are not eligible.

Eligible prisoners must be compliant with prison rules and able to demonstrate good behaviour. Individuals released under the scheme remain under strict supervision, with licence conditions that can include mandatory reporting, electronic monitoring, curfews, and restrictions on movement. Any breach can result in recall to custody. 

Under the scheme, offenders on a standard determinate sentence must serve at least one third of their sentence before early release can be granted. David Lammy, the Secretary of State for Justice, added that he had ‘ordered new touch release checks [and] commissioned an independent investigation into system failures.’

The government argues that the scheme will reduce violence in prison and encourage more prisoners into education and employment, which they claim could reduce reoffending. However, Lammy said the government had ‘inherited a prison system in crisis’ and that he was ‘appalled at the rate of releases in error this is causing.’