Prison population falls by more than 2,000 in a week after plan to tackle overcrowding launched

The prison population in England and Wales has fallen by more than 2,000 people in just one week following the implementation of a Government plan to reduce overcrowding.

A temporary early release program went into effect on Tuesday, September 10, which will see about 1,750 prisoners released after serving 40 percent of their sentences, rather than the usual 50 percent.

Tuesday, a group of people who passed away early these were those who were serving sentences of less than five years.

On October 22, it will be the turn of those with sentences of five years or more – but the government stresses that the bill will not cover the most serious criminals, such as murderers, rapists and terrorists.

As of last Friday, the prison population was 88,521.

However, today that number has dropped by 2,188 to 86,333.

The aim of the release programme is to free up space in the country’s overcrowded prisons.

Ministers say the alternative is “unthinkable” and would lead to a “complete collapse of the criminal justice system”.

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