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Prisoners to be released after serving just a third of their sentences under new plans

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2025-05-14 04:27:00 3 Views 05 Comment

In the most significant sentencing reform in more than 30 years, a review is expected to propose freeing criminals who have served as little as a third of their sentence.

Inmates could earn their freedom on licence if they complete work, training or education and behave well.

The current automatic early release of offenders 40% of the way through their sentences will be scrapped in favour of minimum and maximum terms handed down by the courts, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Failure to tow the line would see prisoners given a longer jail term than their 40% of sentence release date.

The plans, stemming from an independent sentencing review led by former Tory Justice Secretary David Gauke, are set to be unveiled next week.

It would mark the most significant overhaul to sentencing laws in more than three decades.

Currently, most inmates are released automatically after serving just 40, 50 or 66 per cent of their time.

The Tories are expected to condemn the move as “soft justice,” while Labour will argue that the dire state of Britain’s prisons – overcrowded and at breaking point – demands urgent and radical solutions.

With prisons operating at 99 per cent capacity and fewer than 1,000 spaces left, MoJ projections show the system could run out of room again by early 2026, despite the early release scheme launched in September.

The proposals are inspired by reforms introduced in Texas in 2011, which saw reoffending and crime rates plummet. Prisoners there can earn parole earlier by working full-time, maintaining discipline and completing training.

Some of the best-behaved inmates may now serve just a third of their time in prison under a new “third, third, third” model. One third would be behind bars, the second third under “enhanced” licence with electronic tagging and strict conditions, and the final third on standard licence.

This scheme won’t apply to all offenders. Serious criminals on indeterminate or extended determinate sentences – including sex offenders, terrorists, and domestic abusers – are likely to be excluded.

The reforms will target fixed-term prisoners such as burglars, fraudsters and violent offenders – offering them a clear path to rehabilitation, but only if they prove they’ve earned it.

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