A scheme that allows prisoners to be released early because of a lack of space has been extended for an “undefined period”.
Leaked documents suggested the early release scheme – formally named the End of Custody Supervised Licence (ECSL) – has been expanded to more prisons for an extended time.
The scheme allows prisoners in England and Wales to be released up to 18 days before the end of their sentence to ease an overcrowding crisis. It was drawn up by ministers in October and can apply to prisoners serving sentences of less than four years.
Leaked government guidance seen by Sky News said the scheme had now been “activated for an undefined period” under an “urgent contingency” scheme.
Sky reported that the change had caused concern in the prison and probation service and fears that some prisoners could be wrongly released early.
Lisa Nandy, the shadow international development secretary, said there were potential implications for public safety and that Labour wanted “the government to come to the House of Commons urgently to explain what this scheme is”.
Nandy told Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: “There’s a big difference between an early release scheme that was designed to keep the public safe and an early release scheme that is a consequence of chaos, not just in the prison system but in the court system as well.”
The deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, said: “We want to minimise the use of this scheme … [but] there’s unprecedented demand in our prisons.
“To manage that gap occasionally between supply and demand we need to have these temporary measures but the prime minister and the lord chancellor are committed to minimising their use and I think that’s the appropriate course.”
The shadow secretary of state for justice, Shabana Mahmood, said on X that the extension was “extraordinarily damning”.
“The government cannot continue to extend and expand indefinitely what is supposed to be a temporary early release scheme, with zero transparency,” she wrote. “The Tories are treating victims and the British public with contempt. We need answers.”
Plans for the scheme, first disclosed by the Guardian, were initially drawn up in October and the proposals were to apply to prisoners in England and Wales serving a sentence of less than four years.
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They would be released up to 18 days early as part of plans drawn up by ministers to ease an overcrowding crisis.
At the time, the domestic abuse commissioner for England and Wales, Nicole Jacobs, expressed concern and demanded further details to ensure the safety of victims. “Many of those serving short sentences will be in prison for domestic abuse and stalking offences. The Ministry of Justice must seriously consider the safety of victims of domestic abuse and set out clearly how they will be protected,” Jacobs said.
The Ministry of Justice denied the scheme had been extended indefinitely, and said it did not have a legal basis to be anything more than a temporary measure.
A spokesperson said: “The terms of the End of Custody Supervised Licence scheme have not changed since it was announced in October. It is temporary and only used to relieve pressure in prisons where necessary.
“Only offenders who are a matter of days away from release are being considered and anyone convicted of a sexual, terrorist or serious violent offence is excluded, with those who break the rules facing a return to jail.”