Labour concerned over ‘the most drastic form of early release for prisoners’

A move to potentially allow prisoners to shave two months off their jail time is the “most drastic form of early release” ever witnessed in England and Wales, according to Labour.

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk on Monday announced an extension to the end of custody supervised licence (ECSL) scheme, taking it from 18 days to a maximum of 60 days in a bid to ease overcrowding pressures in prisons.

The Government has insisted the measure will be temporary and only apply to “low-level offenders”.

Mr Chalk made the announcement via a written ministerial statement to Parliament after 8pm, a situation Labour branded “plainly inadequate given the gravity of the situation”, before attending the

Commons in person yesterday to update MPs.

Shadow Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the extension was “unprecedented”.

Replying to Mr Chalk’s statement in the Commons, she said: “Let us be in no doubt, this is the most drastic form of early release for prisoners that this country has ever seen, and in his 11-page and 10-minute long statement today, it merited one paragraph.

“This is a measure which will cause shockwaves and deep concern across our country, and the Secretary of State seems to think a quiet written ministerial statement published late last night and one paragraph today is good enough — it is not.”

Mr Chalk said there would be safeguards in place, including a gold command veto that would mean if a prison governor has “concerns about safety, then that person will not be released”.

The Justice Secretary announced in October that the Government would use the powers it has to allow the prison service to let some prisoners out of jail up to 18 days early to ease overcrowding.