More than 70,000 prisoners in England and Wales have been released from jail under the Government’s early release scheme to tackle overcrowding.Some 70,066 inmates had been freed as of the end of March 2026, according to figures published by the Ministry of Justice.The scheme was launched as an emergency measure on September 10 2024, just days after the prison population reached a record high of 88,521.It allows eligible prisoners to be released after serving only 40 per cent of their fixed-term sentence, rather than the usual 50 per cent.The current scheme for the early release of prisoners replaced a separate scheme introduced by the previous Conservative government.Under this separate process, 13,325 prisoners in England and Wales were freed early between October 17 2023 and September 9 2024