The government is taking decisive action to fix a broken prison system through a 10 million investment in AI technology, new oversight boards and streamlined processes. These reforms directly address the release error crisis inherited from the previous administration while building 14,000 new prison places. Expanding community sentences and earned progression will reduce reoffending more effectively than short prison terms while freeing up space for dangerous criminals.
The prison system stands close to breaking point, with mistaken releases skyrocketing from 50 annually to 262 last year due to overcrowding and overstretched staff. An overcomplicated sentencing framework forces inexperienced officers to manually calculate release dates while managing facilities at 157 percent capacity. The crisis has left four wrongly released prisoners still at large, exposing how dangerous offenders slip through a collapsing system.
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