Oral Question·Ministry of Justice
“What recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Standard Determinate Sentences 40% early release scheme.”
Tabled: 8 April 2025Answered: 22 April 2025
Asked by
Rebecca Paul
Conservative — Reigate
Answering Minister
the Secretary of State for Justice
Answer from Hansard
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Shabana Mahmood)
The last Government left our prisons in crisis. We came within days of running out of space entirely, and the emergency release programme was designed to stop that crisis happening. Numbers are rising again, which is why this Government are committed to building 14,000 prison places by 2031, compared with the 500 that the last Conservative Government added in 14 years, and to reforming sentencing so that we never run out of prison places again.