Opinion – early release for UK prisoners is the start of another sentence

Others were certain they’d only end up back behind bars, with a lack of inmate support meaning any tangible progress to the prison system was unlikely.

‘I’ve been in and out of jail, 14 sentences in 12 jails – a couple of weeks inside doesn’t make me a changed man’ said Ben Savage, who was released early from HMP Thameside earlier this week.

Charities have long called for better mental health services for inmates, both during their time in custody and after release. It’s not a glamorous topic, but the statistics are grim.

Approximately 40% of the prison population in the UK has been identified as having mental health problems, and the support they receive is often woefully insufficient.

It’s no wonder then, that those who are being released early are speaking out. A growing chorus of voices from former inmates paints a dire picture of life on the outside: little support, inadequate preparation for reintegration, and virtually no safety net. It’s not hard to see why the rates of reoffending remain stubbornly high.

If we don’t care about people when they’re behind bars, why should they fare any better when they’re released into a society ill-prepared to help them?

Inmates have shared an overwhelming sense of abandonment and disillusionment, a view shared by many others online.

Labour’s early release scheme is a cynical move, more about saving face and solving overcrowding than addressing the real needs of prisoners or society. Releasing prisoners early might temporarily ease pressure on the system, but it does little to address the causes of criminal behaviour or reduce reoffending rates.

This might clear out the cells for a while, but unless substantial changes are made to the support structures that catch people once they’re out, many of the same people are likely to find themselves back inside.

The idea that more cells will somehow fix the deeper issues within the system feels woefully out of touch with reality. Conditions in UK prisons have been described as ‘grim’ and ‘dehumanising’ by inmates and prison advocates alike.

These are not environments conducive to rehabilitation, yet they are the very spaces that we expect prisoners to emerge from, somehow reformed and ready to re-enter society.

Releasing prisoners early may alleviate overcrowding for now, but it’s hard to celebrate a system that’s merely shifting the problem from behind bars to the streets.