Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners have been (a) released in error and (b) released in error and not re-apprehended under the Early Release scheme as of 8 January 2025.

On 10 September 2024, the Government took the necessary and unavoidable step to move certain release points from 50% to 40%, with an initial tranche of eligible offenders released on this date, and a second tranche released on 22 October 2024.

There was an issue with a repealed Breach of Restraining Order offence, which meant that 37 offenders were released in error in the first tranche because they were incorrectly sentenced. This specific cohort were all returned to custody. All prisoners in custody with this offence recorded against them were reviewed to ensure there were no further releases in error.

We have published data on how many offenders were released on the first day of both initial SDS40 release tranches (1,889 prisoners for Tranche 1, and 1,223 prisoners for Tranche 2). The number of people who have been released in error since September 2024 forms a subset of releases in error 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 these statistical reports. Annual totals for releases in error are published each July in the HMPPS Annual Digest, available via Prison and Probation Performance Statistics - GOV.UK.