Official figures show more than 70,000 prisoners in England and Wales have been released early under the Government’s emergency SDS40 scheme, introduced in September 2024 to relieve severe overcrowding across the prison estate.
More than 70,000 prisoners have been released early from jails in England and Wales under a Government scheme designed to tackle prison overcrowding. According to figures published by the Ministry of Justice, 70,066 inmates had been freed under the policy by the end of March 2026. The scheme, formally known as Standard Determinate Sentence 40 (SDS40), was introduced as an emergency measure on 10 September 2024, just days after the prison population reached a record high of 88,521.
How the scheme works
Under SDS40, eligible prisoners can be released after serving 40% of their fixed-term sentence, rather than the standard 50%. The rollout was carried out in two phases: prisoners serving sentences of less than five years became eligible from 10 September 2024, with many serving five years or more becoming eligible shortly afterwards, from 22 October 2024.
Not all prisoners qualify for early release under the scheme. Those convicted of a range of serious offences, including many terrorist, sexual and domestic abuse crimes, are excluded and remain ineligible for release after serving 40% of their sentence.
Prisoners released under SDS40 do not walk free unconditionally. They remain on licence for the remainder of their original sentence and can be recalled to prison if they breach the conditions of their release or go on to commit further offences.
Why the scheme was introduced
The policy was brought in after the prison population in England and Wales reached record levels, with ministers at the time warning that prisons were close to running out of capacity for new inmates. The Government has consistently described SDS40 as a temporary emergency measure, intended to prevent the prison system from becoming overwhelmed while longer-term reforms to sentencing and prison capacity are developed.
The Ministry of Justice has clarified that its published figures include only eligible standard determinate sentence prisoners whose release dates were brought forward under SDS40, and do not include the majority of prisoners released following recall to custody.
How it compares to the previous scheme
SDS40 replaced an earlier early release scheme introduced by the previous Conservative government. Under that separate process, 13,325 prisoners in England and Wales were released early between 17 October 2023 and 9 September 2024, shortly before the current scheme came into force.
