Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood is exploring a major overhaul of the prison system in England and Wales, where inmates would have to earn their freedom through “good behaviour credits”.
The proposed Texas-style reform would replace the current automatic release system with a “carrot-and-stick” approach.
Mahmood recently travelled to Texas to study their prison model, which was introduced more than a decade ago.
The reform aims to incentivise rehabilitation while potentially reducing prison overcrowding.
Up to 70 per cent of prisoners are released automatically after serving between 40-60 per cent of fixed-term sentences
PA
In Texas, there is no automatic early release scheme for prisoners.
Instead, inmates can reduce their sentences by earning “good behaviour and good time” credits.
This system allows prisoners to serve as little as 25 per cent of their sentence if they maintain good behaviour and work productively.
Credits can be earned through work, training or participation in education schemes.
The Texas model represents a significant departure from the UK’s current approach, where release is largely automatic rather than earned.
Automatic early release was introduced in England and Wales in 1991 for prisoners serving less than four years.
This was expanded in 2003 to include more serious offenders.
Currently, up to 70 per cent of prisoners are released automatically after serving between 40-60 per cent of fixed-term sentences.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Prisoners would need to demonstrate rehabilitation through participation in work, education or training programmes to secure early release
PA
Under the proposed changes, this automatic system would be replaced with one where inmates must earn their freedom.
Prisoners would need to demonstrate rehabilitation through participation in work, education or training programmes to secure early release.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Mahmood said: “We’ve got to be open to all potential future constructions of sentences. If you’re going to think about incentivised behaviour, obviously it’s a carrot and a stick, isn’t it?”
“If you’re going to go down the road of incentivisation, actually that might mean some things no longer become automatic.”
She acknowledged differences between the US and UK systems would need careful consideration.
“We would have to consider carefully how you would take the best learning from the law and read across to our system because our arrangements are different.”
Former Conservative justice secretary David Gauke accompanied Mahmood on the Texas trip to assess their rehabilitation schemes.
The Texas reforms have produced impressive results in reducing reoffending.
The UK prison system is currently under significant pressure with overcrowding reaching critical levels
PA
Only 16.6 per cent of offenders in Texas are recalled to jail, compared to a national average of around 68 per cent.
Gauke noted that incentivising prisoners over time allowed for a “more considered approach to assessing their behaviour”.
This significant difference in reoffending rates suggests the Texas model could offer valuable lessons for the UK prison system.
The UK prison system is currently under significant pressure with overcrowding reaching critical levels.
According to the latest Ministry of Justice data, the prison population in England and Wales has reached 86,941.
This is the highest figure since October 21 last year.
That date marked the day before the government released more than 1,000 prisoners as part of urgent measures to ease the overcrowding crisis.
The Prison Reform Trust has recently urged the government to consider abolishing short fixed-term recalls of 28 days or fewer.