Prisoners' Release: Christmas

(asked on 15th January 2024) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Discretionary Friday/pre-Bank Holiday Release Scheme Policy Framework, last updated on 8 December 2023, how many offenders with scheduled release dates between 22 and 26 December 2023 were released on (a) 20 and (b) 21 December 2023 under the terms of that framework, by each offence committed by those offenders.


Answered by
Edward Argar Portrait
Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This question was answered on 18th January 2024

This policy created a presumption that all offenders due for release on a Friday or the day before a bank/public holiday will be eligible for release up to two working days earlier unless exceptional circumstances apply.

It addresses the practical challenges posed by Friday releases in order for offenders to turn their back on crime. Releasing offenders earlier in the week will help them to access the key services that they need, such as drugs rehabilitation and mental health support. This better enables stable and law-abiding resettlement, reducing their risk of reoffending and ensuring public protection is maintained.

For the adult estate, data covering prisoner releases in December under this policy forms a subset of data planned for release in the regular Offender Management Statistics Quarterly publication, and therefore the Department is not able to provide the requested information at this time.

The Youth Custody Service holds this data for the Children and Young People Secure Estate which shows fewer than 5 children or young people were due for release between 22nd and 26th December. Data suppression rules (in this case numbers of individuals fewer than 5) in place to protect the anonymity of individuals prevent disclosure of the exact figure and offence type. However, all those children or young people due for release within the period were released in accordance with policy on December 20.

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