Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of people released on End of Custody Supervised Licence were assessed as posing a high risk of harm in each month since October 2023.

End of Custody Supervised Licence (ECSL) began in October 2023. Analysis of its use will be based on at least one year’s worth of data and published in line with the same approach we take for other statistical releases such as deaths of offenders in the community.

There are strict eligibility criteria for release on ECSL.

Only some offenders due for automatic release on licence at the half-way point of their sentence are eligible to be considered for release under these arrangements. Offenders whose release is a matter for the Parole Board to assess are not in scope.

It remains at the discretion of the prison service to prevent the ECSL release of any prisoners where releasing an offender earlier presents a heightened risk than if they were released at their automatic release date. HMPPS senior leaders will take decisions over exclusions following advice from HM Prison and Probation Service staff.