Can release licences actually control offenders?published at 10:14 British Summer Time 10 September

10:14 BST 10 September

Dominic Casciani
Home and legal correspondent

Offenders leaving jail today are not free in the true meaning of the word.

They’re on a release licence and they can be recalled to prison if they break it.

The licence is a set of standard conditions, plus additional and specific optional extras, imposed by the governor with the input of probation officers who have assessed the offender.

Typically, the offender should be told of their conditions a week before they leave jail. The standard conditions include instructing the offender to keep in touch with their probation officer, live at an approved address and have any job cleared before they take it. That is assuming they can find work.

There is usually an international travel ban and, fairly obviously, they must not do anything that would undermine their reintegration into the community.

Optional restrictions include a ban on approaching victims, going to particular places related to their crimes and a curfew. Offenders are often tagged - so they’re traceable - but not always.

The key element in the package is oversight from probation officers. But, as we know and reported earlier, they’re super stretched in a system that inspectors say is overwhelmed.

Meghan Owen
Reporting from Wormwood Scrubs

I’ve been speaking to a partner of one of the prisoners being released today.

She tells me he was sentenced to 33 months for actual bodily harm assault, but is being released after 16 months.

"I’m feeling alright, excited, positive. I hope he wants to do better with his life and not go down the same route," she says.

But she also says she's unsure if the government plan is a good idea: "Considering the state of the prisons, I’m not surprised. But I think people are going to think they can get away with anything. For me, this scheme is a good thing but also I do think people should be doing the full sentence."

Image source, PA Media

Daniel Sandford
Reporting from outside HMP Liverpool

I've just spoken to a prisoner leaving HMP Liverpool.

He said the prison was "chokka" and there had been no choice for the authorities but to release people early.

He tells me he's been released two months early.

Jo Makel
Reporting from outside HMP Humber

Prisoners started to be released from HMP Humber, here in East Yorkshire, at about 8am.

One man, who was among the first to leave the Category C prison, was carrying a black bin liner and was greeted by a middle-aged man waiting with a car. The pair hugged and shook hands before leaving.

The released prisoner then gave us a big smile and wave as he passed.

Another man left the jail with his belongings in a bag and also carrying a cardboard box. He's been waiting by the roadside.

We've got reporters stationed outside some of the prisons which are today releasing inmates earlier than normal.

As a reminder, some offenders serving less than five years are being let out after serving 40% of their sentence - rather than the usual 50% - as part of a government scheme to free up space.

Views of those prisons will appear in our live stream, which you can view by clicking the Watch live button at the top of this page. We'll also bring you updates from our colleagues on the ground when we get them.

The Institute for Government think tank says , externalpart of the answer is longer sentences.

In 2023, the average prison sentence given in Crown Courts in England and Wales, which deal with more serious offences, was more than 25% longer than in 2012.

For some crimes, the increase has been even greater. Sentences for robbery, for example, were 13 months longer on average in 2023 than in 2012, a rise of 36%. Longer sentences mean more people in prison at any given time.

Another part of the answer is the increase in prisoners on remand, who are waiting for their trial to start, or to be sentenced.

In March this year the remand prison population stood at 16,458, a record high., external In 2016, it was about 10,000.

Some of this increase has been driven by a record number of Crown Court cases waiting to be heard.

The Conservatives, meanwhile, say the government has "badly managed" the early release of prisoners, which has led to "serious public concern" about the process.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Mel Stride, also speaking to BBC Breakfast, says some people who have "suffered at the hands of these individuals" have not been told they are being let out early - including cases of serious assault.

"We're not getting satisfactory answers as to whether appropriate accommodation is actually being provided for those prisoners that are being released. And in the even it is not we know the chances of reoffending increase very significantly," he says.

• Worth highlighting: Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told the same programme this morning that prisoners' victims had been informed of their release "where it's relevant to them". We're looking into these claims and counterclaims to figure out what's going on.

A bit more now from the business secretary's interview with BBC Breakfast - during which he says "the spare capacity in the prison system was less than 1%" which is why the government had to act.

He adds that the swift response to the recent UK riots "was only possible because capacity had been created in the system" - and insists those being released early as a result will have their supervision "tightened up".

"But I say openly, I acknowledge, this is the type of difficult decision which as a new government you really wouldn't want to have to make," Reynolds says. "We've got to fix the most basic things when it comes to public services in this country."

This is an "emergency response," he goes on, adding "this is not how the system should run".

The government has acknowledged concern over the release of thousands of prisoners, describing it as an "emergency decision" because of overcrowding.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds says the blame lies with the last Conservative government leaving "no capacity in the system whatsoever", accusing them of having "no basic responsibility" in managing the prison population.

He tells BBC Breakfast there are "many safeguards" in place for those being released, including making sure domestic abusers or other violent offenders are not released and ensuring people are still monitored through ankle tagging, and adds:

"Victims have been informed where it's relevant to them, but again this is a difficult decision and most British people would say it should never get to this point and I understand those concerns."

As we continue to bring you reaction on the first day of this government scheme, below is a report that's well worth watching.

The BBC's Sima Kotecha was given rare access to HMP Pentonville across two days and saw first hand the conditions there.

Take a look:

We're now hearing from Martin Jones, the chief inspector of probation, who says the Probation Service is under a "huge amount of pressure" because of the early release scheme.

He warns that due to a lack of probation officers, the service is "significantly overstretched" and there will be "pinch points".

The reasons for this, Jones tells Radio 4's Today programme, are poor pay, structural issues and reorganisation, a lack of retention, and morale.

Asked about the prisoners being released today and throughout this week, Jones says there's a "certainty" some will reoffend - specifically, that "around about a third" of them will go on to commit further crimes.

We need a healthy criminal justice system, Jones adds, calling for investment which he says will benefit everyone.

According to figures released by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) last week, the number of inmates has risen by 1,159 since 2 August, the week when the UK riots began, and now stands at 88,521 - the highest level on record.

That leaves about 1.2% of available space across the prison estate in England and Wales.

On current trends without intervention, the prison population is projected to rise by about 19,000, external by 2028, while capacity is set to rise by 9,000.

We mentioned in our last post some remarks that Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons in England and Wales, previously made on overcrowding - and he's been out giving a fresh take this morning.

Speaking to our colleagues at BBC Breakfast, he says he thinks Keir Starmer's "government had absolutely no choice" but to deal with the issue because when prisons are too crowded they don't function properly.

However, he adds there is "some risk" involved to letting people our early - including "homelessness" and people getting back "into the cycle of crime, drug use... or worse still getting involved in further offences".

On his understanding of who is being released today, Taylor says there are offenders who've been categorised as carrying a "high risk of harm" and he recognises that "people will be nervous" as there "is a risk of some prisoners" reoffending.

• As a reminder: 1,750 prisoners in England and Wales are being released today, as part of a government scheme to reduce overcrowding. Those being let out are serving less than five years and have carried out 40% of their sentence, rather than the usual 50%.

There are concerns about how early release will affect Probation Servicepublished at 06:54 British Summer Time 10 September

06:54 BST 10 September

Sima Kotecha
Senior UK correspondent

It’s a short-term fix that will free up cells quickly, and it’s happening because there simply aren’t enough resources to cope with the rising number of people being locked up.

Last year Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons in England and Wales, described the issue of overcrowding as a "ticking time bomb" - but warned early releases would not be enough to prevent it "blowing up".

For instance, early releases have a knock-on effect for the Probation Service. When offenders on determinate sentences are released early, they are supervised by probation officers and must adhere to certain conditions, such as sticking to curfews.

But the Probation Service is already struggling with its workload. There are concerns that if the service can't cope, then offenders could miss curfews and potentially reoffend, meaning more recalls to prison. This will do little to ease overcrowding and rebuild public confidence.

As one prison governor put it: "This could cost lives, because staff are under immense pressure and are worried they might miss something, which could lead to an inmate taking their life or seriously self-harming.”

The principal reason for this early release policy, the government says, is to ease significant overcrowding in English and Welsh prisons.

Official figures released last week showed it stood at 88,521 - the highest since the Ministry of Justice began publishing weekly figures in 2011.

This meant there were only 1,098 places left in the prison system - 1.2% of available space.

Here's what the prime minister had to say about the situation:

This is not a surprise - but some people are 'deeply worried'published at 06:29 British Summer Time 10 September

06:29 BST 10 September

Chris Mason
Political editor

Criminals leave prisons every day.

But today is different; it is on a different order of magnitude - with many, many more times as many people walking beyond the gates behind which they have been incarcerated and onto the streets than would normally ever happen in one go.

The fact it is happening isn’t a surprise.

Labour stands accused of doing things in government it didn’t advertise in advance when the party was trying to woo you during the election campaign.

Take the campaign about the Winter Fuel Payment for a start. But on the issue of letting prisoners out early, it was mentioned before polling day.

I asked Sir Keir Starmer about it in the week of the election and he said it would be necessary "in all likelihood".

The last government also set criminals free before they had originally intended to - for the same reason. There aren’t enough prison places.

Capacity has come within 100 places of being exhausted in England and Wales in recent weeks. It currently stands at around 350, I am told - ie pretty much full.

So, ministers argue, they have no other option.

I am also told that by setting out their plans earlier in the summer, the Probation Service and others have had chance to prepare for around 1,700 being set free today, putting in plans for each of them.

But there are people working within the Prison Service and the Probation Service who have contacted me deeply worried about what is happening.

Sam Hancock
Live page editor

More than 1,700 offenders in England and Wales will leave prison early today, as part of a government scheme designed to reduce overcrowding in jails.

It was triggered by the incoming Labour government days after the general election in July, but officials had already been drawing it up when the Conservatives were in power.

The 1,700 inmates due to be let out today is in addition to the 1,000 who are are usually released in a week.

The policy will see prisoners released after completing 40% of their sentence - rather than the standard 50% - in a bid to free up 5,500 beds. But it will not apply to those convicted of sex offences, terrorism, domestic abuse or some violent offences.

Stick with us for the first day of the scheme and we'll bring you all the latest news lines and analysis.