Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December 2022 to Question 101737 on Prisoners' Release: Christmas, if he will provide a breakdown of the 145 prisoners who were released on Friday 24 December 2021 by offence.

The attached table gives the main offence category for the 145 prisoners with a conditional release date of 25th or 26th December 2021 who were instead released on 24th December 2021 due to the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 1961.

Where a prisoner is serving a sentence of 5 days’ imprisonment or more and their automatic release date falls on a weekend or bank holiday, the Criminal Justice Act 1961 requires their release on the preceding working day so that there are appropriate services and support available when they are released.