Labour refuses to publish early release prisoner numbers

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 13 Oct, 09:32 · Archive

The Ministry of Justice will not disclose how many prisoners are released under its new early release scheme.

The Ministry of Justice has confirmed it will not disclose how many prisoners are released under its new rolling early release scheme. The programme, which began on 1 October, is expected to free up to 50,000 offenders annually. Instead of publishing standalone figures, the data will be folded into existing statistics, making it impossible for the public and Parliament to establish the full scale of releases under the new measures.

A second phase of the scheme began today, releasing a further 650 inmates. The first phase on 1 October saw around 700 prisoners serving sentences of less than 19 months released early across England and Wales. From today, the scheme extends to offenders serving sentences of up to two-and-a-half years, who can now leave prison after serving a third of their sentence rather than half.

Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy accused the government of a cover-up, stating: 'This looks like a cover-up by Labour to hide the true scale of their latest disastrous early release scheme.' He demanded ministers explain why the data would not be made public. The decision contrasts with Labour's previous early release scheme, which has published figures showing more than 70,000 offenders have been released so far.

How it is being reported

• Labour accused of 'cover-up' on number of criminals freed early as hundreds more hit streets TODAYLabour faces accusations of a "cover-up" over a refusal to publish figures showing the number of offenders released early from prison, as another 650 inmates are due to walk free today under the Government’s expanding scheme. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has confirmed it will not disclose the exact number of prisoners released under the new rolling early release scheme, which could see an estimated 50,000 offenders a year leave jail before completing the custodial portion of their sentences. Instead, the figures will be folded into existing statistics, making it impossible to establish the…GB News · 13 Oct, 09:15
• Labour's soft justice 'cover-up': Number of criminals handed early release from jail will be kept hidden from the publicIn a new soft justice scandal, the Ministry of Justice will hide how many prisoners are let out of jail under its controversial new measures.Daily Mail · 11 Oct, 22:20

In this story: Labour · Ministry of Justice · Nick Timothy · Andy Burnham · England and Wales

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