Prison population hits record in England and Wales

Two additional emergency plans intended to manage the flow of offenders into prisons have already been triggered.

Police forces across northern England and most of the Midlands can delay sending some newly-charged suspects to court until prison officers have identified a cell for them.

At the same time, a senior judge has told 150 magistrates’ courts to delay the sentencing of some offenders who are on bail, if it is likely the individual would be jailed.

A spokesman for the MoJ said: “Staff across the whole criminal justice system are working incredibly hard and the government will continue to support them before the changes come into effect on 10 September.”

The department also said it is opening up 500 additional prison places in the coming weeks.

However, once the early release scheme begins, public attention will turn to whether the offenders can be safely managed in the community.

Martin Jones, the chief inspector of probation, warned this week that it was “inevitable that things will go wrong” as the number of offenders who are being monitored and managed outside prison suddenly jumps.

He told the Times newspaper there was “no risk free options available” but probation officials had been given a “fighting chance” to get it right by the way the scheme’s implementation had been planned over the summer.