About this report
In September 2024, with prisons in England and Wales nearing full capacity, government introduced SDS40 – a temporary automatic prisoner early release scheme to prevent overcrowding. Under SDS40, eligible prisoners serving five years or less are automatically released on licence after serving 40% of their sentence. The introduction of SDS40 also coincided with the culmination of End of Custody Supervised Licence (ECSL) which was first introduced in 2023.
More recently, the Independent Sentencing Review recommended further changes to early release arrangements for prisoners and trailed the introduction of a ‘Texas style’ points-based system whereby prisoners ‘earn’ early release as a reward for good behaviour.
Against this background, Skills for Justice anonymously surveyed nearly 500 prison and probation workers across England and Wales to understand their perspectives on ECSL and SDS40 and to capture their take on the potential changes on the horizon. A report of the survey findings – Prisoner Early Release Schemes: Assessing the workforce impacts in England and Wales – outlines steps to put workforce capacity back on a sustainable footing and identifies key implementation recommendations ahead of the proposed introduction of a points-based prisoner release system.
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