Releasing prisoners won’t solve the crisis in English and Welsh jails. Here’s what will | Enver Solomon
Under the heading “Challenges”, it lists gangs, the destruction of cells, prisoners exploiting each other and complex behaviours.Committed, hard-working staff talk about the high levels of psychosis, often combined with drug abuse. They provide examples of people actually committing crimes to go back into jail to get some respite from their chaotic, dysfunctional lives.To tackle the current prisons crisis in England and Wales, planned changes to sentencing will see almost 2,000 people released early from Thursday and over the following month. It is the first tranche of the estimated 5,000 releases that will take place in phases over the coming year.This will address the immediate crisis, but by the government’s own admission it is not a permanent fix.
- ▪Under the heading “Challenges”, it lists gangs, the destruction of cells, prisoners exploiting each other and complex behaviours.Committed, hard-working staff talk about the high levels of psychosis, often combined with drug abuse.
- ▪They provide examples of people actually committing crimes to go back into jail to get some respite from their chaotic, dysfunctional lives.To tackle the current prisons crisis in England and Wales, planned changes to sentencing will see al
- ▪It is the first tranche of the estimated 5,000 releases that will take place in phases over the coming year.This will address the immediate crisis, but by the government’s own admission it is not a permanent fix.
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| Original publisher | The Guardian — Politics |
| Canonical URL | https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/oct/01/releasing-prisoners-crisis-english-welsh-jails-sentences |
| Publication time | Thu, 01 Oct 2026 11:32:41 GMT |
| Retrieval time | 2026-10-01T11:47:33.096Z |
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‘Ministers need to be much more transparent about the importance of rehabilitation as well as punishment.’ Photograph: Mark Harvey/AlamyView image in fullscreen‘Ministers need to be much more transparent about the importance of rehabilitation as well as punishment.’ Photograph: Mark Harvey/AlamyOpinionPrisons and probationReleasing prisoners won’t solve the crisis in English and Welsh jails. Here’s what willEnver SolomonMinisters need to level with the public about what current prison sentences look like – who needs to be locked up and for how longEnver Solomon is chief executive of Nacro, the criminal justice charityThu 1 Oct 2026 07.32 EDTLast modified on Thu 1 Oct 2026 07.33 EDTShareThe flipchart in the corner of the staff meeting room, deep inside a prison in the south-east of…
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