Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of prisoners released early under the prisoner early release scheme have been recalled to custody due to breaches of their licence conditions.

Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Data on SDS40 recalls forms a subset of data intended for future publication via the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly (available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly).

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish (1) the names of all prisons participating in the prisoner early release scheme; and (2) the number of prisoners released from each institution.

Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

On 07 November, the Ministry of Justice published transparency data on how many offenders were released on the first days of Tranche 1 and Tranche 2 of SDS40 (1,889 prisoners on the first day of Tranche 1, and 1,223 prisoners on the first day of Tranche 2).

SDS40 is a legal requirement that applies to all prison institutions. Data on prison releases forms a subset of prison population data which is intended for future publication. In accordance with the requirements of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, we may not give any early indication of the contents of this statistical report.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many prisoners have been released early under the prisoner early release scheme since its introduction, broken down by offence category.

Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

On 07 November, the Ministry of Justice published transparency data on how many offenders were released on the first days of Tranche 1 and Tranche 2 of SDS40 (1,889 prisoners on the first day of Tranche 1, and 1,223 prisoners on the first day of Tranche 2).

SDS40 is a legal requirement that applies to all prison institutions. Data on prison releases forms a subset of prison population data which is intended for future publication. In accordance with the requirements of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, we may not give any early indication of the contents of this statistical report.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consultation took place with victims' groups before implementing the prisoner early release scheme; and what steps they have taken to address concerns raised by victims' groups.

Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Following our inheritance from the previous Government, we were forced to introduce SDS40 as an emergency measure to prevent the imminent collapse of the Criminal Justice System.

Unlike the previous Government’s disastrous early release scheme, this Government ensured that probation had time to complete pre-release work and risk assessments. We also exempted a number of offences, including sex offences, violent offences with over 4 year sentences and specific offences often linked to domestic abuse.

The implementation of SDS40 was considered at a victim support sector roundtable, and then subsequently through meetings with a sector engagement group, which includes a broad range of victims’ groups and representatives. To address the concerns raised about the amount of information available to victims about the measure and its practicalities, we published an explanation of the policy on GOV.UK and provided victim support organisations with frequently asked questions and answers to support them when engaging with victims who may be affected by the measure.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the prisoner early release scheme on reoffending rates; and what measures are in place to monitor released offenders.

Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Our initial operational insights suggested there was not a significant change to the use and application of recall since the implementation of SDS40. We will, however, continue to monitor this.

The number of people who have been recalled or have reoffended following release under the early release measure (SDS40) forms a subset of prison releases data which is scheduled for future publication. In accordance with the requirements of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, we may not give any early indication of the contents of this statistical report.

Proven reoffending rates are published regularly on an annual and quarterly basis. The most recent rates are available at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/collections/proven-reoffending-statistics.

SDS40 brings forward normal release with licence conditions and offenders released under this measure are managed by probation in the standard way.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many policy reviews and consultations the Ministry of Justice has launched since the General Election on 4 July 2024; what the subject of each review is; and what the anticipated timescales are for their completion.

Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Following the election, this Government has outlined its ambitions through the Plan for Change, which sets out an ambitious set of milestones - across the missions - for this Parliament.

As the House would expect, Government continually reviews its work to ensure that it is delivering the best outcomes for the people of the United Kingdom, and that its policies continue to represent the best value for the taxpayer.

Public reviews will be available on Gov.uk as they are published.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what impact the prisoner early release scheme has had on the availability of prison places; and what assessment they have made of alternative measures to address prison overcrowding.

Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Following the inheritance left by the previous Government, in July 2024, the Lord Chancellor was forced to introduce the SDS40 scheme to avoid imminent gridlock across the Criminal Justice System.

We have already published data for day one of Tranches 1 and 2 on 7 November 2024 on the numbers of prisoners released and are considering how routinely publishing SDS40 data best fits with our regular Accredited Official Statistics.

When this Government came into office, we were dangerously close to prisons overflowing. That would have meant police would have had to stop arresting and we would have face a complete breakdown in law and order.

Whilst the SDS change provided the intended immediate relief to the system, this was never expected to be a long-term solution. To ensure we are never in a position where we run out of prison places again, the Lord Chancellor announced the Independent Review into Sentencing, alongside a series of prison capacity measures. This included reforming our recall practices to target the unsustainable growth in the recall population since the pandemic and an extension of the maximum period offenders can spend on Home Detention Curfew from 6 – 12 months.

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