Hundreds of prisoners are due to be released early from jail in England and Wales from Thursday, 1 October 2026. This comes amid warnings that many may have nowhere to live and the probation system could struggle to monitor them.
Approximately 2,000 criminals, including domestic abusers and violent offenders, are scheduled for release over the next month. An additional 3,000 are expected to be freed in stages over the next year to address overcrowding in prisons. This total number was reduced from 6,000 after an intervention by Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
A probation source told the Guardian that colleagues in some towns and cities are finding it difficult to secure hostel places, with some individuals potentially being released directly onto the street. Enver Solomon, chief executive of Nacro, a social justice charity, highlighted that leaving prison homeless can increase the risk of reoffending.
Napo, the probation officers' union, has raised concerns about the accommodation shortage. Ben Cockburn, the union's national chair, stated that HM Prison Service appears to be in "absolute denial" regarding the state of the Probation Service, citing staff shortages and high workloads.
The Ministry of Justice stated it is launching the largest ever expansion of electronic monitoring, with a new presumption that offenders will be electronically tagged upon release. However, a recent report by probation and police watchdogs warned that some criminals face delays of up to five months for tag fittings, leading to breaches of orders.
Ministers say the expanded early release scheme is necessary to prevent the collapse of the criminal justice system. They attribute the current situation to a lack of prison places added by the Conservatives while in power, alongside increased sentence lengths. The scheme excludes criminals jailed in child grooming gang cases, those convicted of indecent assault, and those guilty of manslaughter.