Hundreds of prisoners have been released in the first wave of an early release scheme, prompting reactions from people who have left custody about the conditions they experienced and the likely challenges following their release.
Those released described prisons as overcrowded and expressed the view that the programme was “set up to fail”. Their comments provide an insight into how prisoners affected by the first phase have experienced the scheme.
The releases form the opening stage of the early release programme. The supplied information does not provide further details about the number of people involved, the eligibility criteria, the prisons affected or the arrangements made for those released.
The latest known situation is that the first group has now been freed, while reactions from those involved have raised concerns about overcrowding and whether the scheme can work effectively.