Prisoner Early Release Scheme

Tuesday 13th October 2026 Commons Chamber

12:45

[Nick Timothy (West Suffolk) (Con)]

(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will make a statement on the early release scheme.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Jake Richards)]

This Government inherited a prison system on the brink of collapse. In July 2024, men’s prisons were operating at 99% capacity. At one point, fewer than 100 places were available across the male estate. Without intervention, we risked running out of prison places, leaving courts unable to sentence offenders and police unable to make arrests.

This Government have acted to increase capacity and to reform sentencing. We have committed to delivering 14,000 prison places by 2031 and have already delivered 3,200. The last Government added just 500 net places in their time in office. We have also accelerated the removal of foreign national offenders, returning around 11,700 to their countries of origin. It is in that context that we launched the independent sentencing review in October 2024 and subsequently passed the Sentencing Act 2026 earlier this year to place the prison system on a more sustainable footing and ensure that space is always available for the most dangerous offenders. The Act also aimed to avoid the chaotic emergency release schemes carried out with little scrutiny or warning by the Conservatives.

However, we know that aspects of these changes have caused concern, and we are determined to do the right thing for victims. That is why the Government listened to the concerns raised, paused the implementation of the progression model and conducted an urgent review. As the Lord Chancellor confirmed in this House on 1 September, in addition to the 18,000 dangerous offenders already ineligible for the progression model, this Government have excluded rape and serious child sex offences from eligibility for changes to release dates under the Sentencing Act. Unlawful killings, including manslaughter, causing or allowing the death of a child, and death by dangerous driving, are also excluded, as well as indecent assault, ensuring that more historical child sex offences prosecuted under older laws are treated consistently with equivalent offences today. That means that hundreds more dangerous criminals will be staying behind bars for longer, including those who killed PC Andrew Harper in the line of duty.

The first releases on the progression model took place on 1 October, with His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service working closely with operational partners to ensure that eligible offenders were released safely into the community. As the second tranche of releases begins today, robust arrangements remain in place to manage releases, support probation practitioners and supervising offenders, and ensure that those subject to electronic monitoring requirements are fitted with a tag. As part of the supervision of offenders released into the community, HMPPS will maintain rigorous oversight of those on licence, with measures in place to recall those who are non-compliant.

We recognise the significant effect that release date changes can have on victims. We will ensure that those in the victim contact scheme who are affected by the new exclusions are informed if there are any changes to the release date of the offender in their case. I have also instructed my officials to attempt to contact victims not in that scheme to provide information, should they wish for that to happen. We have launched the victim support offender release helpline, with nearly £19 million of additional funding, to provide victims with emotional support, practical advice such as safety planning, and general information about sentencing changes.

It is important to add that the Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending is unable to be here today because she is currently speaking with governors about early release and how the implementation of the progression model is going.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Justice Secretary.

[Nick Timothy]

Two weeks ago, 700 prisoners were released from prison across the country, and today a further 650 will be released, most after serving just one third of their sentence. The Justice Secretary told the country that proper safeguards would be put in place, with a presumption that all released prisoners would be tagged. He called it the “toughest” tagging regime in history, but that was nonsense. Four days after the first release, the Justice Secretary admitted that he had no idea how many released prisoners had been tagged, and protested that it was unreasonable to expect him to know how many had been tagged so soon into the scheme. I have some advice for him and his Ministers: it is better to work out how to implement your policy before it starts, not after.

We know that a majority of prisoners are not being tagged before release, and we know that reoffending is already off the charts. The Met says that there have been 100 tag breaches in London each day since Labour’s first early release scheme began, while two or three prisoners released early are being re-arrested every week. I do not want to hear the same old lines from the Minister about prison building, though I note he has changed his tune since the Prime Minister took office in July. Since the election, not a single new prison development has been planned or approved—those were the Minister’s words in a written answer. The only new prison opened was begun under the last Government, and prison places are unused because officer numbers are down under Labour.

Can the Minister tell us very clearly the answers to the following three questions? How many prisoners released so far have and have not been tagged? How many tag breaches by released prisoners have there been? If he does not know the answers to those questions, when will the Justice Secretary and his team find out and tell the House of Commons?

[Jake Richards]

I am grateful for the hon. Member’s questions. I noticed over conference recess that the hon. Member for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston (Neil O’Brien), who I think is the Conservatives’ policy chief, apologised for the lack of investment and action on criminal justice over 14 years of Conservative Governments. It would be welcome to hear that from the Dispatch Box today, but alas, we will still have to wait for that apology.

Turning to the hon. Member’s questions, we have set out the numbers of prisoners who will be released in each tranche—that is publicly available on the Government’s website. We will be setting out data in relation to prisoner releases as we always do, and the next batch of data will be released in January of next year. This is a new sentencing regime, and it is right that we release the data in the appropriate way, as we have always done.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Justice Select Committee.

[Catherine Atkinson (Derby North) (Lab)]

Tagging could be a way to provide real reassurance to communities and victims, but only if tags are fitted promptly and offenders are monitored. In April of last year, the Justice Committee raised concerns in writing about the time being taken to fit tags, and the Institute for Government found that between January and April of this year, more than 5,000 people who should have been monitored were not tagged—that equates to 15% of all people with an electronic tagging order. It also found that almost 1,600 people wearing a tag were wearing one that did not send a signal, due to technical faults or the device not being charged. Can the Minister tell us whether anything has changed since April? Specifically, what percentage of GPS tags are now being fitted on time? What is the longest time an offender can wait before monitoring begins, and when will offenders be tagged on day one, as victims and the public should be able to expect?

[Jake Richards]

My hon. Friend is right to highlight the importance of not just having a tagging regime that works, but making sure that that regime is robustly monitored and scrutinised. Since March of this year, there have been improvements by Serco, the company that is operating the tagging regime. My hon. Friend will no doubt have seen the National Audit Office report, and we will fully respond to it in detail as and when the full report is published later this month.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Jess Brown-Fuller (Chichester) (LD)]

The prison capacity crisis that the Conservatives left behind is unforgiveable, but the situation we find ourselves in two years later is a national emergency waiting to happen. The entire criminal justice system is in freefall. Victims have been left looking over their shoulders for their released perpetrators; more than a third of the places that were freed up by the last wave of releases were filled again within a week; and the very probation officers who are overseeing these releases will decide in the coming weeks whether to take strike action.

The Government have never had a grip on this issue. Everyone who comes into contact with the criminal justice system is being failed, and tinkering around the edges will not fix the problem. Will the Minister commit to tagging prisoners immediately upon release—at the gates—as called for by the Victims’ Commissioner, ensuring that perpetrators are not allowed to evade being tagged or left unmonitored for days? Will he also commit to a royal commission on the entirety of the criminal justice system, so that we can finally get to grips with the deep-rooted issues caused by successive Governments’ complacency and mismanagement?

[Jake Richards]

I thank the hon. Member for her questions. Of course, we want to ensure that when prisoners are released and it is necessary for them to be tagged—there is a presumption that those who will be released will be tagged—they will be tagged at source as soon as possible. Of course, those operational decisions are matters for the Probation Service.

Regarding the hon. Member’s suggestion of a royal commission, in the first two years of this Government, we have managed to stabilise the criminal justice system. We have begun to get some stability in terms of prison capacity. It was necessary to pass the Sentencing Act 2026 and implement the new sentencing regime, and over the course of the coming years we will make progress on the Crown court backlog—we will debate that later today—and tackling reoffending, which is at the heart of the criminal justice system crisis that we face.

[Jess Phillips (Birmingham Yardley) (Lab)]

Historically, whether people were released at the right time or were released early under the various different schemes of various different Governments, it has always been rubbish for victims of domestic abuse. They are often not informed, and the proper safeguards are not put in place. I hear the Minister saying that there is now better communication and that there are helplines, but we have to do better than what the Conservative party did. There needs to be a proper, systematic approach for victims of domestic abuse, to make sure that every single possible safeguarding opportunity has been taken in every single case. I am afraid to say that I feel as if the Department does not know what is going on in the world, because I meet women every week who have not been informed and have not been provided with any safeguards. Can the Minister assure me that that vital work is going on?

[Jake Richards]

I thank my hon. Friend for her question. Of course, she is a long-standing campaigner on these issues, and she is right that the criminal justice system has failed domestic abuse victims for too long. The Minister for Victims is working at pace with the Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending and alongside the Victims’ Commissioner to ensure everything is done to try to support victims during this period. We have invested more money, but it is not just about money; it needs to work. Of course, I will make sure that the Ministers for Victims and for the Prisons and Probation reach out to my hon. Friend to get the details of any cases.

[Sir Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

If I understood it correctly, the Minister said earlier that past victims—and, therefore, presumably potential future victims—are being informed and supported. If they need that sort of information and support, does that not imply that the people who are being released pose a threat to them? What sort of category of person is being released? Is it a dangerous person? If it is not, why do the victims need the support that the Minister describes?

[Jake Richards]

We have debated the cohorts who are subject to the new regime at length in this place, both during the passing of the Sentencing Act and in relation to the changes that were made over the summer. When we returned to this place, the Justice Secretary rightly came to the Dispatch Box on 1 September to update the House.

Going to the heart of this issue, we release 4,500 prisoners every month in this country. We have done so for the past 30 years. Of course, there is an assessment of what measures should be in place and what notifications should be made to any victims, which is undertaken by brilliant probation staff every single day—brilliant staff who were gutted by the last Conservative Government. We are investing in our Probation Service to enable them to undertake the difficult work that they do week in, week out to keep our country safe.

[Damien Egan (Bristol North East) (Lab)]

Getting prisoner numbers back down to manageable levels depends in part on an effective and well-managed Probation Service, but as I have heard from probation staff in my Bristol constituency, the service is simply overwhelmed after years of cuts. What steps are being taken to support the Probation Service’s ability to manage the specific challenges posed by early release, as well as the strains facing the service more broadly?

[Jake Richards]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Probation and our Probation Service do not get enough attention in this place or in public debate more generally. We have invested £750 million in the Probation Service. That is the biggest investment in the Probation Service for a generation. We can compare that with what happened under the last Government, where probation was gutted. We had the failed privatisation experiment by Chris Grayling, which was an absolute disaster. To my mind, it is one of the most acute disasters of the past 14 years. It is right that we invest in probation. We appreciate that there are more challenges to come, and we are working at pace with the Probation Service. Indeed, the Prisons Minister was speaking with our probation colleagues this morning.

[David Chadwick (Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe) (LD)]

Kaylan Hippsley, who grew up in Ystradgynlais, was just 13 years old when he was tragically killed by a driver under the influence of drugs and alcohol in February 2024. The Court of Appeal increased his killer’s sentence to nine years, with at least six years to be served in custody before he would be considered for early release. However, Kaylan’s family have now been informed that his killer has been transferred to an open prison after serving barely two years and will soon be out on day release. Can the Minister explain how this has been allowed to happen? What assurances can be given to Kaylan’s family that the sentences imposed by the courts for such offences will actually be upheld?

[Jake Richards]

I thank the hon. Member for raising that clearly tragic case. I am not able to comment on the details of it, as I am sure he will appreciate, but I will make sure that the relevant Minister writes to him about that.

[Janet Daby (Lewisham East) (Lab)]

I am sure that the Minister will be aware that care leavers represent some of the most vulnerable children and young people in our society, yet they are over-represented in our prisons. Indeed, a pilot conducted by Catch22 worked across 135 local authorities, supporting and working with care leavers who find themselves in the criminal justice system, and in particular those leaving prison. Will the Minister look at the outcomes of that pilot in his efforts to work towards releasing people from prison?

[Jake Richards]

My hon. Friend is right that a disproportionate amount of the prison estate is taken up by those who have been in care. It goes to the heart of the debate about how we confront reoffending. We know that reoffending makes up such a large degree of the criminality that we see on our streets. When people come into contact with the criminal justice system, they too often leave it more likely to commit crimes, and we have got to tackle that. It is an issue not only of capacity, but of investment in probation. In fact, just earlier today, the Leader of the Opposition said that she wants to support dealing with reoffending. That was a sensible, grown-up intervention by her, and I was surprised to read it. I look forward to working with her on those issues in the months ahead.

[Simon Hoare (North Dorset) (Con)]

I have Guys Marsh prison in my constituency. It provides valued jobs, and I pay tribute to the prison officers who work there. The Minister will know that all of these policies flow from the pressure on spaces in our prison estate. Not that long ago, the Government had Crown prerogative powers to bring forward new prisons or to extend prisons without going through a lengthy planning process. That would solve the problem at a stroke. Why will the Minister not investigate that in order to speed up an expansion in prison spaces?

[Jake Richards]

The hon. Member has raised that point on a number of occasions when we have had the opportunity to debate this issue. He is right that we need to look at how we can fast-track planning infrastructure projects of real national importance, such as prisons, and I know that the Prisons Minister and the Justice Secretary are keeping a close eye on that. I just gently push back that some of the hon. Member’s colleagues on the Conservative Benches spend a lot of their time opposing the building of prisons in their constituencies. The hon. Member for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston (Neil O’Brien), who has apologised for the Conservatives’ record on criminal justice, spends a lot of time opposing the building of the prison in his constituency.

[Connor Naismith (Crewe and Nantwich) (Lab)]

The reality is that there would not be an early release scheme if the Conservatives had not presided over a record that left our prisons at 99% capacity, having built a staggeringly low 500 places in their 14 years in government. My constituents are angry about the situation in which we find ourselves, so will the Minister set out the steps the Government are taking to reassure victims and to ensure that we never end up in this situation again?

[Jake Richards]

My hon. Friend is right, and I can set out clearly what we are doing. By the end of this Parliament, there will be more criminals behind bars than ever before under a Labour Government. That is because this Government are spending three times more on prison building than the Conservatives ever did. The Conservative Government closed 23 prisons; we are building 14,000 places. That is the difference between a Labour Government and a Conservative Government.

[Richard Tice (Boston and Skegness) (Reform)]

The sad truth is that dangerous sexual predators are being released early under this scheme. The sister of a friend of mine was told by police just a few weeks ago that her heinous assailant was being released in a few months’ time and there was nothing they could do. She resigned from her job and has fled the country in terror. That is where things have got to. There are some 4,000 empty cells that require maintenance and refurbishment, and 10,000 cells are occupied by overseas nationals. Will the Government use those places to stop dangerous offenders from being released early?

[Jake Richards]

I am happy to ensure that the hon. Member has the appropriate information needed about the case that he raises, and we will be able to look into that case individually. Prison capacity more generally is still a challenge. Although 4,000 places may be available today, there are different categories of prisons and there is geographical need. It is not quite as simple as just being a numbers game; the picture is a bit more complicated than that. I am proud that this Government have increased the deportation of foreign national offenders by 40%. We will continue to deport more foreign national offenders when the new early release scheme comes into effect early next year, and I look forward to Members from across the House supporting the Government in our efforts.

[Warinder Juss (Wolverhampton West) (Lab)]

The prisoner early release scheme is clearly simply a result of the failings of the previous Conservative Government, but as the Minister has already acknowledged, we do not want those prisoners to end up back in prison a short time after being released. What is being done to stop those prisoners reoffending, particularly in terms of their employment and resettlement?

[Jake Richards]

My hon. Friend rightly comes to the heart of this debate, which is how we can confront reoffending. We are working with local employers and we have regional councils to try to ensure that people have opportunities for work and housing. It is a challenge—it has been a challenge for decades—that ex-offenders often do not have the right support when they leave prison. That is why we are investing in the Probation Service and working with local authorities at pace to ensure that when ex-offenders leave prison they are given the opportunities to build a stake in society and not commit offences again.

[Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd) (PC)]

I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests and my role as the chair of the justice unions all-party parliamentary group.

This second tranche of early releases is coming so soon after the first that probation staff are just in despair at their workloads. There was a workload measurement tool that was used to help balance workloads, but it was switched off on 25 September this year. Workload pressures and insufficient pay are why the probation union Napo is holding a formal ballot on industrial action next Monday. Does the Minister therefore recognise that the probation system is on the brink of collapse?

[Jake Richards]

I do not accept the right hon. Lady’s characterisation of the Probation Service. There are great challenges, however. The prisons and probation Minister is today at a conference with probation colleagues, meeting them, listening to them and working with them, because we need the Probation Service to work with us on the challenges we face. I gently say again that this Government have invested £750 million in probation, which is the biggest investment in probation for a generation. We have introduced new technology, such as Justice Transcribe. That app helps probation officers save a huge amount of time on paperwork and builds their capacity. We accept that there are challenges ahead, but we are meeting colleagues and we will work with them to meet those challenges.

[Chris Webb (Blackpool South) (Lab)]

Will the Minister confirm to my constituents that the most dangerous offenders, including rapists, are excluded from the progression model? What steps is his Department taking to repair the prison estate, which was left on the brink of collapse by the Conservatives, and ensure that we never reach this crisis point again?

[Jake Richards]

My hon. Friend is right. I can confirm, as the Prime Minister and the Justice Secretary have at this Dispatch Box, that rapists will not be subject to the new regime. My hon. Friend is also right that constituents like his and mine expect us to meet this challenge by building more prison places. That is why we are investing in 14,000 new prison places by 2031. There will be more criminals behind bars at the end of this Parliament under a Labour Government.

[Sir Ashley Fox (Bridgwater) (Con)]

The Minister will know that all of the 3,000 new prison places that have come online since the election were initiated by the last Conservative Government. Will he tell the House why this Government have not planned or approved any new prison spaces since they came to office?

[Jake Richards]

We hear this a lot—Conservative Members saying, “Well, we didn’t do anything for 14 years, we didn’t spend much money, and then in the final few months we thought, gosh, we have a prison capacity crisis, we had better start planning, and then we called an election.” It is absolutely hopeless. What we are doing constitutes the biggest prison building programme since the Victorian era, with 14,000 places by 2031. The Conservatives’ policy chief has apologised for their record on criminal justice, as has the Leader of the Opposition. Will the hon. Gentleman do so?

[Tristan Osborne (Chatham and Aylesford) (Lab)]

Of course, the legacy that we inherited was the failure of the last Government, who did not build enough prison places and left it until the last minute to sanction new places. I appreciate the Minister’s clarity in respect of the new prison places and the Government’s investment in 14,000 future places, but may I ask him about the recruitment of prison officers? Will we have enough personnel to support that expansion so that we do not have to resort to early release in the future?

[Jake Richards]

There is indeed a challenge. Alongside our prison building programme, the biggest since the Victorian era, is the need to recruit people to staff those prisons. However, we are implementing a range of new recruitment initiatives to ensure that we have enough prison officers to make them safe and workable.

[Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

Several constituents who have been in touch with me are victims of domestic abuse and desperately need to move. Emotional support and safety planning are cold comfort when offenders are cutting off their tags, when they are making threats to kill, and when the victims’ addresses are being disclosed to them, but these vulnerable families are still coming 12th, 15th or 18th on the list for being moved to new social housing. What is the Ministry of Justice doing with local authorities to ensure that these people are properly prioritised?

[Jake Richards]

That absolutely should not be the case and it is very worrying, so I will ensure that the appropriate Minister meets the hon. Lady to discuss those individual cases. As I have said, we have invested in community safeguarding measures and there is a further £18 million for victim support, but I entirely appreciate that victims want reassurances about their safety rather than just warm words, and that is what this Government are committed to providing.

[Tom Hayes (Bournemouth East) (Lab)]

Local residents and I are deeply concerned about the possible return of a convicted child sex offender to Townsend following his planned release. On Saturday I held a community meeting which was joined by the police and crime commissioner as well as representatives of Dorset police. It is clear that people fear that this man will be not just a cause for concern in his own right, but a magnet for violent and antisocial behaviour to himself and the wider community. Will the Minister arrange for a meeting with the Probation Minister and me, along with local residents? The last thing we want is to see Townsend go through this sort of ordeal.

[Jake Richards]

My hon. Friend has raised that particular issue, and indeed the issue more generally, with me on numerous occasions. To the extent that I am allowed to make such promises at the Dispatch Box, I will ensure that he has the right meeting with the appropriate Minister.

[Charlie Dewhirst (Bridlington and The Wolds) (Con)]

I must take umbrage at the idea that the last Government were too slow to react. HMP Millsike, in my constituency, was given planning approval in September 2019, but it took six years to build, and according to the latest figures it still has 344 empty cells. Should the Minister not be moving heaven and earth to ensure that we fill every available cell, rather than releasing dangerous criminals back on to our streets?

[Jake Richards]

As I have said, the Leader of the Opposition has apologised for the Conservatives’ record, but some of them have not got the message. As for the use of space, the hon. Member is right to say that we need to maximise the prison estate. The Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary, from this Dispatch Box, made it clear that he was looking at how we could maximise all parts of the estate. However, as I said earlier, it is not quite as straightforward as a simple numbers game, because there are different categories of prison and different geographical demands. One in seven of the prison population are on recall and many are on remand, so they need to be near the appropriate courts. It is not quite as straightforward as the hon. Member would like to suggest, but of course we are determined to use every single space that we can.

[Chris Vince (Harlow) (Lab/Co-op)]

I thank the Minister for his comments about probation. We saw the failure of the privatisation experiment conducted by the previous Government, and the impact that it had on probation staff and those who were using the Probation Service, so I welcome those comments. Like the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Vikki Slade), I am really concerned about those who are cutting off their tags. I have spoken to victims of domestic violence in my constituency of Harlow, who have raised the issue with me. What reassurance can the Minister give me that that will not be allowed to happen, and that if it does happen, those who take off their tags will be treated severely?

[Jake Richards]

Any attempt to interfere with tagging is very serious and will be treated in the toughest possible way. Concerns have been raised about the tagging regime, by the National Audit Office and others, and the Government will respond in due course. Performance has improved since the interim report was published a few months ago. My hon. Friend is absolutely right to point out that at the heart of this is the question of how we tackle reoffending and bolster our Probation Service, which we have invested in. Challenges that have been raised and we accept them, but I will not take lessons on the Probation Service from the Conservatives after their failed privatisation under the now Lord Grayling, which was one of the biggest failed experiments in public service reform over the past 40 years.

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

Last week I held my regular roundtable for local domestic abuse organisations in Bath. There was fear—real fear—among the organisations that represent survivors and victims about the number of early releases. Representatives of Avon and Somerset police, who were present, tried to reassure the group that they had the capacity and could manage the situation, but how will the Government ensure, through assessment and review, that the Avon and Somerset force does indeed have the capacity to support victims and survivors? How will that be assessed and when will there be a review?

[Jake Richards]

The Government appreciate that there are concerns— understandable concerns—among victims’ groups and victims themselves. The Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary accepted that at the Dispatch Box, and we have invested more in our victim liaison work in order to do a better job in reaching out to victims, ensuring that they are heard and also listening to them so that we can put into effect safety measures that will help them. We are talking to the police regularly and investing in them as well to ensure that, as much as possible, we keep communities safe during this period.

[Clive Efford (Eltham and Chislehurst) (Lab)]

Thank you for calling me, Mr Speaker, although I had to leave the Chamber briefly for duties elsewhere in the House.

Today, 650 people are being released. We know that they are coming—we can anticipate the fact that we need to release 650 people. I googled, “What is the reason we cannot tag people on release?” The answer was a lack of capacity in the companies that have the contracts for attaching the tags. It seems to me that the companies are not fulfilling those contracts. It cannot be beyond their technological ability to tag people on release, so what are they going to do about it?

[Jake Richards]

There have been question marks, to put it mildly, over the performance of the companies that undertake the contracts. We are working closely with Serco, and there has been an improvement in the implementation of tagging since March. However, I would suggest that although there is a presumption that every person who is released should be tagged, ultimately it is an operational decision and a decision for the Probation Service, as is the case in respect of the 4,500 prisoners who are released every month as per normal.

[Mr Speaker]

We will let the Front Benchers change over after we have heard from Jim Shannon.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the Minister very much for his answers. I am sure that he was watching television this morning when the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, said that he was arresting

“two or three early-release offenders a week”,

and that seems to be the case. He gave the example of someone who was released last week having originally been arrested for shop theft, and who lasted just a few days before doing the very same thing and is now back in prison. More worryingly, the Met Commissioner said that those who have been convicted of firearms offences have also been released. Surely it is time to ensure that gun-toting criminals are not allowed back on the streets.

[Jake Richards]

I had thought that there was going to be a session without a question from the hon. Member, so it is reassuring to hear one.

We know, for example, that one in seven of the prison population are on recall. There are recall provisions in operation, and that is right. If people are released from prison and then break their licence conditions, or indeed commit a further offence, they should be brought back to prison. That is the system working. We want to bring the number down, because we want to tackle reoffending and ensure that when people do leave prison they do not turn to crime again, and that constitutes much of the work that we are doing with the Probation Service and local authorities.