5,000 prisoners to be released early from overcrowded jails

Britain’s prison system is running about 5,000 places beyond what officials consider safe, leaving Prime Minister Andy Burnham to decide which prisoners should be released early.

About 86,000 people are held in prisons across England and Wales. The system expanded by only 500 net places during the 14 years of Conservative rule, despite longer and more numerous sentences. The Labour government, which took office in 2024, said it had inherited a prison system close to collapse.

Former Prime Minister Keir Starmer pushed through a law shortly before leaving office to prevent that collapse by releasing thousands of prisoners before the end of their sentences. Under the original plan, all adults serving fixed-term sentences except people convicted of murder could have qualified, including prisoners convicted of serious violent and sexual offences. The proposal prompted alarm from the Conservative opposition, officials and victims’ representatives.

The case that has made the policy especially contentious concerns police officer Andrew Harper. In 2019, Harper and a colleague responded to a report of an ongoing quad-bike theft in Berkshire, west of London. Harper tried to intervene but became caught in a tow rope as the offenders drove away. He was dragged for more than 1.5 kilometres and died. The young offenders were convicted of manslaughter and could have been released this autumn under the new system.

Fifty British police chiefs wrote to Burnham this summer, urging him not to release the men responsible for Harper’s death. After several proposals met protests and criticism, Burnham announced that no one convicted of manslaughter would qualify for early release. The men convicted over Harper’s death will therefore remain in prison. Justice Minister Alex Norris has also promised that male prisoners will not be moved to women’s prisons.

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Male prisoners will not be moved to women’s prisons.