Early Release Scheme: Prisoner Recall
Tuesday, 10 November 2026
Contributions
Bradley Thomas (Bromsgrove) (Con)Conservative
4. How many prisoners released under the early release scheme have since been recalled to prison.
Sir Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)Conservative
6. How many prisoners released under the early release scheme have since been recalled to prison.
David Reed (Exmouth and Exeter East) (Con)Conservative
20. How many prisoners released under the early release scheme have since been recalled to prison.
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Alex Norris)Labour (Co-op)
It is too early to draw conclusions about recall patterns associated with the progression model. However, we are closely monitoring recall trends and outcomes as further data becomes available, and we regularly publish data on releases and recalls in “Offender management statistics quarterly”, an accredited official statistics publication, on gov.uk.
Offender management statistics show that, so far this year in England, there have been more licence recalls than prisoner releases. Will the Secretary of State acknowledge and admit that releasing criminals in order to recall them does nothing to address overcrowding or public safety?
First of all, I would defend the principle that individuals who do not follow their licence conditions should be recalled to prison; that seems perfectly reasonable to me. The hon. Gentleman is right to highlight today that one in seven prisoners has been recalled. That is a sign that when our estate runs hot, we do not rehabilitate properly, and also a sign that significant licensing conditions have an impact.
Does the Secretary of State accept that the recall figures would be even higher if it were not for the fact that, as reported in The Daily Telegraph today, it is taking the police an average of 39 days to arrest anyone who breaches his tagging conditions? Will he consider writing to us with his estimate of how many people who are released early will be recalled—during the next three months, for example?
The right hon. Gentleman will know that, through the National Police Chiefs’ Council, we work closely with police forces to make sure that we share the right information, and have a two-way flow of information on who is leaving and what is happening when the police seek to enforce a recall. The statistics are available in the quarterly release, and they will be published in the usual cycle, when the data comes in.
Devon and Cornwall police cover one of the largest force areas anywhere in the country. When someone released early breaks their licence in a rural part of my region, officers have to go and find them and bring them back. I am sure that the Secretary of State can understand the constraints, given the large geographical area and their limited resources. What assessment has he made of the cost to local policing of recalls under the early release scheme?
First, I pay tribute to the work that Devon and Cornwall police do to keep the hon. Member’s constituents and everyone across Devon and Cornwall safe. We work very closely with chief constables on the support that they need, in the light of their experiences. He will know about, and I am sure will have welcomed, the support given by the Home Office during the preparation for the progression model. With that record investment for our policing, we will make sure that officers—rather than being behind desks, as they used to be during the previous Parliament—are out in the community, keeping his constituents safe.
Mr SpeakerSpeaker
I call the shadow Justice Secretary.
Nick Timothy (West Suffolk) (Con)Conservative
Today, the Government will let another 650 criminals out of prison early, on top of 1,350 last month and tens of thousands under their original early release scheme. When the Justice Secretary launched this scheme, he promised that there would be a presumption that every released criminal would be tagged, but that is not happening. I have asked Ministers about this many times, in letters, written questions, oral questions and urgent questions, but to no avail. He talks about waiting for the release of data in January, but waiting for January is his choice, so I ask again: how many released criminals have been tagged, and if he will not tell us, will the public not conclude that he is just hiding his broken promise?
The hon. Gentleman cannot have this both ways. I have heard him say, and I am sure the whole House tuned in to listen to him in recent podcasts, that he accepts—he never accepts it in the Chamber, but is more willing to do so in public—that we are in these circumstances because the Conservatives did not build enough prison places, and he also refused to rule out an emergency release scheme. I put this to him gently, because I like him: perhaps he is not quite walking the walk, though he is talking the talk. On the presumption of tagging, we will in due course have the full data; that has been the position of successive Governments, including ones in which the hon. Gentleman had important roles. However, I made a commitment about the presumption of tagging, and I also made a commitment that this would be the biggest expansion of tagging in history, and I look forward to having a conversation about the data when it is available.
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
Jess Brown-Fuller (Chichester) (LD)Liberal Democrat
The Sentencing Act 2026 had a very clear aim, which was to stabilise the prison capacity crisis and to prevent victims from having to go through the ordeal of finding out that their perpetrator was being released not because they had served their time, but because there was a capacity crisis. However, the Government’s own capacity projections depend on both building capacity and keeping current cells operational. In the Budget, the MOJ’s capital for maintenance was reduced from £2.3 billion to £1.9 billion for 2029-30, but the cost of the maintenance backlog sits at £2.8 billion and cells are regularly being taking out of use. Can the Lord Chancellor confidently and categorically rule out, at the Dispatch Box, any more early release schemes before the end of this Parliament?
I have been very clear that the point of the Sentencing Act was to move us on from having to have early release schemes, and I am more than confident that it will deliver that. The hon. Member makes a very important point about maintenance. She will know the success we collectively had with the Treasury over the summer in bringing forward investment to ensure that we can access places more quickly. However, she is right that, while we talk a lot about new places, we need to work really hard, through our investment programmes, to make sure that existing places stay online. As I say, I am confident in the work that we have done with the Treasury to ensure that.
Source: UK Parliament Hansard API. Debate ID: 5434233.