Since mid-2021, the prison population in the UK has increased rapidly.

According to the House of Lords Library, as of August 23rd 2024, the prisoner population of England and Wales stood at 88,350 while the operating capacity of prisons was, 89,543 putting prisons at 98% capacity, with fewer than 1,500 spaces left.

The House of Commons library has stated that, as attested by the Prison Service’s annual digest statistics, 23%, almost 1/4 of prisoners, were made to share cells as a result of overcrowding in 2022 and 2023.

As a short-term solution, the Labour Government has introduced an early release scheme to free space in prisons. Prisoners are now being released after completing 40% of their sentences, rather than 50%, just to free 5,500 spaces for new prisoners.

On Tuesday 10th September 2024, around 1,750 prisoners were released, as part of the early release scheme.

That same day, outside Wandsworth Prison, a 28-year-old man was arrested within hours of being released, on suspicion of rape, sexual assault, and ethnically aggravated public order offense.

Despite the apparent stringent checks, there was already a reoffender less than an hour after the prisoner release.

Will this be an isolated case, or is this just the start of repetitive public endangerment?

The new Extended Determinate Sentences (EDS), which replaced the Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence, means that as more EDSs are handed down by judges, the number of prisoners serving determinate sentences of 4 years or more will increase.

There has also been an increase in crime across the UK, leading to more arrests and prison spaces being taken.

It’s clear that something needs to be done, before there is no room in any prison across the UK for new prisoners, but whether the early release scheme is the answer, only time will tell.

According to the House of Lords library, the government has also created long-term plans to stop prisons becoming full.

These plans include reforming the planning system to accelerate the building of new prisons , but how soon can society wait before these plans are completed?

How soon can society wait until they are safe from convicted criminals again?

Written by Phoebe Neech.