Prison population climbs to six-month high despite early-release scheme

The number of prisoners in England and Wales has reached a six-month high, despite thousands of inmates being released early to tackle overcrowding, new figures reveal.

The prison population stood at 87,556 as of Monday, according to new data published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

This is the highest weekly figure since the population climbed to a record 88,521 on September 6 last year, just days ahead of the first wave of early releases.

The Government began freeing thousands of inmates early in September to curb jail overcrowding, by temporarily reducing the proportion of sentences which some prisoners must serve behind bars from 50% to 40%.

Further releases of small numbers of prisoners through November and December meant the overall total fell by nearly 3,000 between the September 6 peak and the end of 2024, when it stood at 85,618.

But since the start of 2025, the number has been on an upwards trend and has grown by 1,938 – reversing roughly two-thirds of the drop.

The latest figures show the operational capacity for men and women’s prisons in England and Wales currently stands at 88,771, indicating there are 1,284 spaces available for criminals.

An additional 1,350 cell spaces tend to always be kept free above the overall operational capacity of the prison estate in England and Wales as a contingency measure so jails can cope with a sudden influx of inmates or change in the make-up of the prison population, according to the ministry.

Ministers have promised to find a total of 14,000 cell spaces in jails by 2031.

It comes as MPs on the Public Accounts Committee said the system faces “total gridlock” as the MoJ forecast prisons to run out of space again in early 2026.

The committee also warned on Friday that the prison and probation service was “entirely reliant” on “uncertain” future measures to prevent it running out of places which it hopes will come from the independent sentencing review expected to be published in the spring.

Commenting on the figures on Monday, chief executive of charity the Howard League for Penal Reform, Andrea Coomber KC, said: “Prisons have been asked to do too much, with too little, for too long, and today’s figures reveal that even the early release of thousands of people has given the Government only a few more months to solve this problem for good.

“It could not be clearer that further action is necessary.

“Ministers have acknowledged that they cannot build their way out of this crisis. We must send fewer people to prison, curb the use of recall after release, and prioritise delivering an effective and responsive probation service that works to cut crime in the community.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “This Government inherited overcrowded prisons, days from collapse. We introduced emergency measures last summer, but we were always clear that longer term action was required.

“That is why we are building 14,000 prison places by 2031, and will reform sentencing to ensure we never run out of space again.”