Around 650 more offenders are being released early from jails in England and Wales today, 13 October 2026. This marks the second phase of a government scheme aimed at addressing the prison population crisis.
The group includes offenders who were serving sentences of up to two and a half years. Under the new rules, these individuals are leaving jail after serving a third of their sentence, rather than half.
This second wave of releases follows approximately 700 offenders who were released early on 1 October, all of whom were serving terms of less than 19 months. The probation service union, Napo, has stated that these releases have placed significant strain on its members, who are responsible for monitoring offenders in the community.
Probation officers are due to meet today to discuss a potential strike vote next week over pay and workload. The Ministry of Justice has offered a 5% pay rise, while the union had demanded 12%.
Alongside the prison releases, the government is also bringing its criminal court reform plan back to Parliament. The revised plan no longer includes proposals for judge-only Crown Court trials for suspects facing up to three years in prison, but jury trials will still be removed for some complex fraud cases.