In a significant move to address severe overcrowding in the prison system, the government has released nearly 50,000 inmates early from jails across England and Wales. This emergency initiative, launched in September 2024, permits eligible prisoners serving fixed-term sentences to be freed after completing just 40% of their term, a notable reduction from the standard 50%.
Scale and Demographics of Early Releases
According to the latest Ministry of Justice figures, a total of 48,931 prisoners had been granted early release by the end of September 2025. The scheme was introduced as an urgent response after the prison population reached a record high of 88,521 inmates.
The data provides a detailed breakdown of those released. British nationals constituted the vast majority, accounting for 44,108 individuals, or 90.1% of the total. Foreign nationals made up 4,733 releases (9.7%), while 90 prisoners (0.2%) had no recorded nationality.
Age and Sentence Length Analysis
In terms of age demographics, prisoners aged 30 to 39 formed the largest group benefiting from the scheme, with 18,425 early releases representing 37.7% of the total. This was followed by the 40 to 49 age bracket, which saw 11,524 inmates (23.6%) freed early.
Regarding sentence length, a significant portion of those released were serving relatively short terms. Specifically, 14,381 prisoners (29.4%) had been sentenced to six months or less, while a further 6,989 (14.3%) were serving sentences between six and twelve months.
Prison-Specific Release Figures
The initiative has seen varying levels of implementation across different facilities. HMP Humber in Brough, near Hull, has released the highest number of inmates under the scheme so far, with 1,459 early releases. It is followed closely by Fosse Way in Leicester (1,335), Berwyn in Wrexham (1,278), and Altcourse in Liverpool (1,087).
Surge in Prisoner Recalls
Separate Ministry of Justice data released concurrently reveals a sharp increase in the number of offenders being recalled to custody for breaching the conditions of their release. In the quarter from July to September 2025, there were 12,836 recalls, marking a 29% rise compared to the same period in 2024 (9,975) and a substantial 83% jump from 2023 (7,030).
The MoJ stated that recall levels are now at a "historically high" level and that this increase is "likely to be associated" with the early release scheme that commenced in September 2024. The department also attributed part of the rise to a legislative change introduced by the previous Conservative government in April 2024, which implemented fixed-term recalls and automatic release after 14 days for most offenders on recall.
"The combined effect expected from these changes is an increased number of offenders released on licence and therefore more opportunities for offenders to be recalled," the MoJ added in its analysis.
Context and Government Plans
This current early release programme replaced a separate scheme operated by the previous administration. Under that earlier process, 13,325 prisoners in England and Wales were freed early between October 2023 and September 2024.
Looking ahead, the Labour Government has committed to creating 14,000 new prison places by 2031 to address systemic capacity issues. Justice Minister Jake Richards informed the Commons that an additional 2,900 places have been established so far, with a further 5,000 already under construction. These include the new category B facility, HMP Welland Oaks in Leicestershire.
Prison Population Nationality Breakdown
The Government has also published an updated snapshot of the nationality of individuals incarcerated in England and Wales. As of 31 December 2025, the total prison population stood at 85,613 inmates. Of these, 74,974 (87.6%) were British nationals.
The next largest nationalities represented were Albanian (944 prisoners, or 1.1% of the total), Irish (679, 0.8%), Polish (677, 0.8%), Romanian (658, 0.8%), and Indian (389, 0.5%). There were 10,376 foreign nationals in prison at the end of December, a slight decrease from 10,737 at the end of September but marginally higher than the 10,355 recorded in December 2024.
The proportion of the total prison population who are foreign nationals remains unchanged year-on-year at 12.1%. This figure has hovered around 12% for much of the past decade, peaking at 12.5% in June 2021.
