The authorities of the United Kingdom have begun this Thursday to release several hundred inmates within the initial phase of a plan designed to alleviate overcrowding in the prisons of England and Wales, a measure that, in total, will affect about 5,000 inmates.
The program aims to reduce the pressure on the penitentiary system in light of the rise in the inmate population. Initially, the inclusion of 6,000 prisoners was contemplated, but the figure has been cut to exclude those convicted of particularly serious crimes, such as rapes and sexual abuse of minors.
In the last three months, the number of inmates in the country's male prisons has increased by more than 1,700, according to data from the British Ministry of Justice. The total prison population of England and Wales now stands at 87,499 people, above the 85,761 recorded at the end of June, which implies a 2% increase.
Those convicted of multiple crimes will be excluded from the scheme, including gang members who engage in recruiting and manipulating minors for sexual purposes and who have been sentenced for indecent assault, as reported by the newspaper "The Independent." Inmates guilty of involuntary manslaughter are also excluded.
The Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has faced strong criticism for this plan, as it could incorporate certain offenders into the group of potential beneficiaries of early release. The Minister of Justice, Alex Norris, has apologized to the victims who have gone through a summer of "uncertainty" while the Government finalized the details of the initiative and introduced modifications.
The measure is supported by the Sentencing Act of 2026, which empowers senior officials of the Executive to lower the threshold for the release of certain inmates: from 40% of a fixed-term sentence to one third of it.
Currently, the total prison population of England and Wales stands 1,022 people below the historical maximum of 88,521 inmates, reached in September 2024 after the public disturbances triggered by the Southport murders at the beginning of that same year.