Criminals, including sex offenders and domestic abusers, could be released from prison after serving a third of their sentence to free up space in overcrowded jails, according to proposals in a sentencing policy review.
Sky News understands this is to be part of a series of measures the former Conservative justice secretary, David Gauke, who’s been leading the independent review, will recommend to the Government on Thursday as a way of easing prison overcrowding.
The measure will apply to people serving standard determinate sentences, which is the most common type of jail term. It is based on sentences, rather than offence type.
That means violent criminals could also be eligible.
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The policy will mean inmates serve only a third of their sentence in prison, a third on licence in the community, with the remaining portion under no probation supervision at all.
If an offender commits further offences in the “at-risk” or final stages of their sentence, once out of prison, they would be sent back to jail to serve the remainder of the original sentence, plus time for the new offence.
It’s understood that ministers are planning to accept this proposal, among others.
The plans will include a tiered approach, with maximum and minimum points at which offenders can be eligible for release after serving a third of their sentence. Length of time spent in prison will vary according to a criminals behaviour.
Offenders would only be released at the third-way point if they’ve behaved well, and engage in rehabilitation and work while in prison.
More serious offenders might have a greater minimum period that they are required to spend in jail.
This “incentive” or “good behaviour” element mirrors moves made in the US state of Texas, which has helped ease overcrowding.
Other proposals set to be accepted include the scrapping of certain short sentences of under 12 months, with tougher community-based alternatives.
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Last week, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood warned that prisons in England and Wales were due to be completely full by November.
Ministers announced that they were to limit the length of time certain offenders who’d been recalled to prison could spend behind bars, to 28 days.
It is understood the sentencing review could recommend that should instead be 56 days, in order to provide time to better rehabilitate repeat offenders who are recalled to jail for breaching the conditions of their licence.
Read more:
Prisons across England and Wales now 98.9% full
Men’s prisons could run out of space in months
Minister does not rule out US-style ‘supermax’ jails
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The proposals aim to reduce the prison population by 9,500 people as jails battle an overcrowding crisis. The male estate is currently 99% full.
The Government has said it does not want to pre-empt the outcome of the review, but that it “inherited a justice system in crisis, with prisons days from collapse”.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “David Gauke is conducting a sentencing review to ensure that we never run out of prison places again, and we are committed to reforming sentencing to ensure our prisons cut crime and keep the public safe.”
