Rise in home detention cuts prisoner total

THE prison population has fallen to its lowest level since the start of this decade after a jump in the number of offenders living in the community under an early release scheme.

Official statistics show there are 82,694 inmates in jails in England and Wales – the lowest figure recorded since the weekly snapshot was first published in its current format in April 2011.

When state-run immigration removal centres are included, the last time the combined total was lower was in January 2010.

Part of the dip in the number is due to an increase in the use of home detention curfew (HDC), under which offenders serve the remaining weeks or months of their sentence outside jail.

The latest Ministry of Justice figures show the HDC caseload currently stands at 3,304 after rising by 50 per cent in just under six months.

In January, prisons and probation services were issued with new instructions after it emerged only a small proportion of eligible prisoners were being freed under the programme.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “No one is allowed out of prison without a thorough risk assessment, close monitoring and strict licence conditions.”