Prisoners could be released up to 60 days early under new government plans

It comes as the government looks to tackle overcrowding in UK prisons

The government has announced plans to allow prisoners to shave two months off their jail time in a bid to tackle prison overcrowding.

Justice secretary Alex Chalk announced an extension to the end of custody supervised licence (ECSL) scheme, taking it from 18 days to a maximum of 60 days in a bid to ease the pressures facing prisons. The government said the measure would be temporary and only apply to so-called "low-level offenders".

The move has been criticised by the Labour Party as the "most drastic form of early release" ever witnessed in England and Wales.

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The announcement was made in a written ministerial statement to Parliament after 8pm on Monday night, which Labour said was "plainly inadequate given the gravity of the situation". Mr Chalk then attended the Commons in person on Tuesday to update MPs on the plans.

He had announced back in October that the government would use the powers it has to allow the prison service to let some prisoners out of jail up to 18 days early to ease overcrowding. But with recent Ministry of Justice (MoJ) statistics showing that prisons in England and Wales are still nearing capacity, Mr Chalk opted on Monday to extend ECSL measures "to around 35-60 days".

The MoJ said that prisons would have licence to release eligible offenders up to 35 days before their prison tenure is due to end, with the provision to extend that further to 60 days if necessary in the future. He added that there would be safeguards in place, including a gold command veto that would mean if a prison governor has "concerns about safety, then that person will not be released".

Shabana Mahmood, the shadow justice secretary, said the extension was "unprecedented". Replying to Mr Chalk's statement in the Commons, she said: "Let us be in no doubt, this is the most drastic form of early release for prisoners that this country has ever seen, and in his 11-page and 10-minute long statement today, it merited one paragraph.

"This is a measure which will cause shockwaves and deep concern across our country, and the Secretary of State seems to think a quiet written ministerial statement published late last night and one paragraph today is good enough - it is not."

Downing Street said the scheme would be temporary but refused to set a deadline for when it would be wound down. Asked how long it could be in place, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's official spokesman said: "I can't offer a projection but it is very clearly a temporary measure. It is up to governors to use it operationally, depending on their circumstances."

According to MoJ figures, the prison population stood at 88,220 as of March 8. The operational capacity is a little over 89,000, while prisons charity the Howard League states that the prison estate should not hold more than 79,597 people.

Mr Chalk blamed overcrowding on a mix of factors, including criminals serving longer sentences under tougher punishment laws and the refusal to follow other countries' lead by freeing low-risk prisoners during the coronavirus pandemic. He said other policies being enacted by ministers to tackle prison numbers included deporting more foreign criminals and increasing the availability of bail hearings.