Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the impact of the scale of erroneous prisoner releases on public confidence and public safety.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Releases in error have been increasing for several years and are another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government. The safety of the public is our absolute priority.
While the overwhelming majority of offenders are released correctly, any release in error is treated with utmost seriousness and we are clamping down on those that do occur. On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action plan setting out initial steps to address this issue. As soon as an error is identified, we immediately assess the individual’s risk and work closely with the police to ensure swift action. A joint protocol between HMPPS and NPCC is in place, to ensure effective and timely communication between partner agencies when an individual is released in error to rearrest them as quickly as possible.
Totals for releases in error are published each July in the HMPPS Annual Digest, with the latest available via HMPPS Annual Digest, April 2024 to March 2025 - GOV.UK, which provides data up to March 2025. These include information on the principal offence group of those released.
A further transparency ad hoc publication, available via Releases_in_Error_from_1_April_2025_to_31_October_2025.pdf, also covers the number of releases in error from 1 April 2025 to 31 October 2025. Further breakdowns of this data cannot be provided at this time because they would give an early indication of future Official Statistics.
Offender Management Units play a vital role in our prisons, including processing prisoner releases. Prisons are encouraged to fill vacancies promptly, with the Department providing support on best practice in recruitment. We are also rolling out technology-based upgrades to assist frontline staff, helping to reduce human error.
The Government is determined to fix the issue of mistaken releases and ensure the public is properly protected.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many prison-based staff are (1) trained, and (2) equipped, to use tasers.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
On 21 September, the Deputy Prime Minister announced that 500 prison-based staff would be trained and equipped to use Taser devices, as part of a wider effort to enhance safety across the prison estate, and currently we have 20 trained national specialist officers.
Delivering this capability is a significant undertaking: work to train and equip these officers is in progress.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the findings of HM Chief Inspector of Prisons regarding release date errors at HMP Pentonville.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Releases in error have been increasing for several years and are another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government.
The Government is determined to fix the issue of mistaken releases and ensure the public is properly protected and on 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action plan setting out initial steps to address the issue.
Work is already underway to address the areas identified for improvement by the Inspectorate. This includes establishing a specialist headquarters team to provide guidance to prisons to mitigate the risk of early or late releases, which is actively supporting HMP Pentonville as part of the Urgent Notification response.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he expects the investigation into releases in error led by Dame Lynne Owens to be (a) completed and (b) published.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Dame Lynne Owens will have completed her independent investigation and be reporting to the Deputy Prime Minister on all her findings by the end of February. We will continue to approach the issue of releases in error with an emphasis on transparency.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the investigation into releases in error led by Dame Lynne Owens has reported any interim findings.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Dame Lynne Owens will have completed her independent investigation and be reporting to the Deputy Prime Minister on all her findings by the end of February. We will continue to approach the issue of releases in error with an emphasis on transparency.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the number of prisoners kept in custody beyond their lawful release dates over the past ten years.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Release inaccuracy is yet another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government. While the overwhelming majority of offenders are released correctly, we are clamping down on those errors that do occur, and this includes unlawful detentions.
On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action plan setting out initial steps which includes an independent inquiry which will report its recommendations to prevent further inaccuracies. The Government is determined to fix release inaccuracies and ensure the public is properly protected.
The data requested comes from internal management information and is not centrally collected. It is not quality assured and does not meet the standard required for publication.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners were held in custody beyond their lawful release dates in each of the past ten years; and what the total amount of compensation paid was in each year.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Release inaccuracy is yet another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government. While the overwhelming majority of offenders are released correctly, we are clamping down on those errors that do occur, and this includes unlawful detentions.
On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action plan setting out initial steps which includes an independent inquiry which will report its recommendations to prevent further inaccuracies. The Government is determined to fix release inaccuracies and ensure the public is properly protected.
The data requested comes from internal management information and is not centrally collected. It is not quality assured and does not meet the standard required for publication.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners were held in custody beyond their lawful release dates in the most recent year for which figures are available; and what the total compensation paid was.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Release inaccuracy is yet another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government. While the overwhelming majority of offenders are released correctly, we are clamping down on those errors that do occur, and this includes unlawful detentions.
On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action plan setting out initial steps which includes an independent inquiry which will report its recommendations to prevent further inaccuracies. The Government is determined to fix release inaccuracies and ensure the public is properly protected.
The data requested comes from internal management information and is not centrally collected. It is not quality assured and does not meet the standard required for publication.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average sum of compensation paid per day is to prisoners who have been held in custody beyond their lawful release dates.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Release inaccuracy is yet another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government. While the overwhelming majority of offenders are released correctly, we are clamping down on those errors that do occur, and this includes unlawful detentions.
On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action plan setting out initial steps which includes an independent inquiry which will report its recommendations to prevent further inaccuracies. The Government is determined to fix release inaccuracies and ensure the public is properly protected.
The data requested comes from internal management information and is not centrally collected. It is not quality assured and does not meet the standard required for publication.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of prisoners who are held in custody beyond their lawful release dates.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Release inaccuracy is yet another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government. While the overwhelming majority of offenders are released correctly, we are clamping down on those errors that do occur, and this includes unlawful detentions.
On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action plan setting out initial steps which includes an independent inquiry which will report its recommendations to prevent further inaccuracies. The Government is determined to fix release inaccuracies and ensure the public is properly protected.
The data requested comes from internal management information and is not centrally collected. It is not quality assured and does not meet the standard required for publication.