Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what (a) guidance his Department has provided to and (b) discussions his Department has had with Prison Governors on the early release of prisoners 18 days before their planned release under Section 248 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

Operational guidance for End of Custody Supervised Licence (ECSL) was issued to governors. Governors implementing ECSL were briefed on the scheme and provided with training before its introduction.

All governors were invited to a call to discuss the scheme following its introduction and weekly calls are held with Prison Group Directors. Daily calls are held with operational leads in Prison Group Directors’ offices, and governors and their staff can access support on ECSL from central teams.