50,000 prisoners to be freed early in bid to tackle overcrowded jails

"From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground."

"Almost 50,000 prisoners have been granted early release from jails across England and Wales under a government scheme designed to ease overcrowding. Ministry of Justice data reveals that 48,931 inmates had been freed by the end of September 2025. This initiative was launched as an emergency measure on 10 September 2024, shortly after the prison population soared to a record 88,521."

"The scheme permits eligible individuals to be released after serving just 40 per cent of their fixed-term sentence, a reduction from the standard 50 per cent. A total of 44,108 of the 48,931 early releases (90.1%) were British nationals, 4,733 (9.7%) were foreign nationals and 90 (0.2%) had no nationality recorded. The age group accounting for the greatest proportion of early releases was 30 to 39-year-olds (18,425, or 37.7%), followed by 40 to 49-year-olds (11,524, or 23.6%)."

The Independent covers topics from reproductive rights and climate change to Big Tech, investigating issues such as the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC and producing documentaries like 'The A Word' highlighting American women fighting for reproductive rights. The newsroom emphasizes on-the-ground reporting, cross-spectrum trust, and a refusal to use paywalls, relying on donations to fund reporters. Almost 50,000 prisoners have been granted early release across England and Wales under a government emergency scheme launched on 10 September 2024 to ease overcrowding. The scheme allows eligible inmates to be released after serving 40% of fixed-term sentences; 48,931 had been freed by September 2025 with demographic and sentence-length breakdowns reported.

Read at www.independent.co.uk