'Public at risk' from Labour plan to let thousands of prisoners out of jail early

Labour has been accused of rushing ahead with the early release of prisoners before measures to protect the public are put in place.

Furious probation officers claimed they have been given barely four weeks to prepare for the first batch of convicts to be freed next month. They warned the lack of adequate preparation will put the public at risk and could lead to “horrific” consequences.

Last night a former home office minister branded the hasty scheme “deeply irresponsible” and “dangerous”. Up to 5,500 inmates – including violent offenders – will be released early to ease prison overcrowding.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood told probation chiefs they would get eight weeks to prepare offender management plans to ensure they are safely returned to the outside world with no threat to the public.

But with the first batch to walk free in 15 days’ time, they claim the information came four weeks too late and while many officials were away on holiday.

Tania Bassett, national official with National Association of Probation Officers, said: “There is a risk to the public and the Ministry of Justice knows that.”

Robert Jenrick, former Home Office Minister, slammed the early release scheme as “deeply irresponsible and frankly dangerous”. He said the Government should instead free up space in jails by deporting foreign criminals currently in prison.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has ruled up to 5,500 inmates will be released in two waves, on September 10 and October 22.

It was one of the first policies announced by the Labour Government following the general election. The need to free up jail cells has become more urgent following the recent riots which led to hundreds of court appearances.

Prisons Minister Edward Timpson announced last month that probation officers would have eight weeks to prepare.

He said: “Probation officers will have the time they need to assess the risk of each offender and prepare a plan to manage them safely in the community.”

But NAPO warns probation officers have in practice only been given four weeks to get ready for releases.

Ms Bassett said: “It has taken a lot of time for the data to all come through and work out who is eligible, so most of our members will only have been starting work on this on August 12.

“And it comes during the peak holiday season. We know that some of our offices drop to 50 per cent of staff due to annual leave in late July and August.”

It means arrangements to ensure freed criminals do not pose a danger to others may not be ready and Ms Bassett said probation officers fear for the safety of the public.

“They will openly say ‘I have a number of cases coming out in September and I don’t think all of them should come out’.

“When you know someone is coming out and you think ‘I don’t think they are ready’ and ‘I don’t think I will have arrangements in place to make it as robust as it should be’, that is a different level of stress, worrying about what can go wrong.”

She warned: “People are really suffering with burnout and when you have got that level of work, mistakes are made and things are missed. The consequences of something going wrong can be horrific.”

The probation service was already suffering from “a chronic workload and staffing crisis” which made it difficult to carry out essential work such as drawing up risk management plans, she said.

Mr Jenrick, a candidate for the Conservative leadership, said: “Nobody pretends this situation is straightforward. But it is deeply irresponsible and frankly dangerous for Labour to release hardened criminals, and place the public at serious risk, before they have expended all possible alternatives.

“The first duty of Government is to protect the British public - Sir Keir should be doing everything in his power to free-up space by deporting foreign nationals offenders in our prisons and fast-tracking additional capacity.”

There are currently 87,496 people in jail, meaning prisons are more than 98 per cent full, including 10,435 foreign nationals.

Under the early release scheme, some criminals who would usually serve half their sentence in jail will be released on probation after serving only 40 per cent. People convicted of sex offences, terror-related crimes or serious violent crimes will not be eligible.

A total of 5,500 prisons cells will be freed and an impact assessment commissioned by the Ministry of Justice set out why action is needed.

It warned: “Without capacity in prisons, there is a growing risk the police will be unable to make arrests or to deliver the sentence of the courts.

“There is also a risk of prison riots and safety, meaning risk to life and further loss of prison capacity.”

Riots have made the need to tackle prison overcrowding even more urgent. More than 460 defendants accused of riot-related offences have had a first hearing in a magistrates court and 99 people have been sentenced, including 69 who have received a custodial sentence in a Crown Court, while 153 have been sent to Crown Court for trial.

The crisis is so acute that last week ministers announced some court hearings in the north of England, where most of the rioting took place, could be delayed with alleged offenders kept in police cells until prison space becomes available.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The new Government inherited a prison system in crisis, which is putting pressure on the wider justice system, particularly probation staff.

“Because of this, the Government has been forced into taking difficult but necessary action so it can keep locking up dangerous criminals and protect the public.

“The new Lord Chancellor announced in July that she was scrapping the old early release scheme introduced by the previous government and replacing it with a system which gives probation staff more time to prepare for a prisoner’s release.

“The Government has also set out plans to recruit over 1,000 new trainee probation officers by March 2025 to meet additional demand.”