The government has announced that plans to release criminals early due to a lack of prison space have been massively expanded.

This means prisoners serving sentences of less than four years can be released from prison two months earlier.

The end-of-custody license scheme was introduced in October and initially allowed prisoners to be released up to 18 days before the end of their sentence to reduce “urgent and exceptional demand” on prison premises.

That period has now been extended and prisoners can be released 35 to 60 days before the end of their sentence.

Sex offenders, terrorists and Category A prisoners, as well as those serving four years or more, are excluded from the scheme.

The move surprised many in the probation department.

“We were never informed that the program would be extended to up to 60 days. The additional work this would create will only overwhelm our members, who are already struggling with dangerously high workloads,” NAPO (National Association of Business) Secretary Chief Ian Lawrence said. probation officer).

Sources close to the prison service expressed concern about the extent to which changes to the plan could be made, quickly and with little warning.

They said they feared such delays would make releases unsafe — in some cases, meaning prisoners were released without permanent homes because housing sites were carefully planned and had few options available on short notice. room for modification within time.

Some criminals are unable to install appropriate location surveillance tags due to lack of shelter.

The government insists it is a temporary measure aimed at easing prison capacity, but last month Sky News reveals leaked documents This reveals its intention to continue for an “undefined” period. The plan is based on the prison originally launched on the 21st and has been “updated” and “revised” to apply to the new prison.

In a written ministerial statement issued on Monday evening, Justice Minister Alex Chalk said the measure was “time-limited” but acknowledged the government may need to “make further adjustments as necessary”.

This is because prison services are under huge pressure. Figures published on Friday showed there are currently 88,220 people behind bars in England and Wales.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) believes that the number of people in prisons who can be held in “safe and decent accommodation” (i.e. “certified normal accommodation” or “non-crowded capacity”) is 79,507.

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This means that the current capacity of the entire system has reached almost 111%, or it is overcrowded.

But Labor called on the government to be more transparent about its plans to release prisoners.

Shabana Mahmood, the shadow justice minister, said: “Under cover of darkness, they secretly revealed that they were extending the scheme from 18 days for early release to an unprecedented 60 days. The public will rightly be shocked.”

“This government has been secretly releasing prisoners, including domestic abusers, and launching a so-called interim program indefinitely. This is completely unacceptable and the Attorney General has a duty to be honest with the public.”