Last night in jail for early release prisoners

Each former prisoner must meet their probation officer on the day of their release to ensure they understand the restrictions in their release licence. That may include curfews or bans on entering areas connected to their offending or to approach victims.

Yvonne Thomas, chief executive of The Clink, a charity that has a long history of training offenders for work, warned it was crucial that people leaving prison got a safe and secure start to minimise the risk of them re-offending.

“The last four to six weeks since the announcement has been quite challenging,” she said.

“The knock-on effect is that if resettlement is not properly planned, then resettlement fails. Recalls to prison are going up and the whole thing has become really dysfunctional.

“These releases are going to be challenging and put more strain on us.”

Ms Thomas said that up to a fifth of the charity’s prisoner trainees could be released early. That meant they would leave jail without finishing industry-recognised qualifications crucial to landing their first job.

“Guys and girls are unsettled and they don’t know what is going to happen,” said Ms Thomas.

“People have to leave prison with a qualification for work – the whole basis of rehabilitation has to be rooted in employability.”