Today marks a significant moment for the prison system, as changes under the Sentencing Act begin to take effect.

Pact has supported these releases because the reality is clear: without action, the prison system is once again heading towards a capacity crisis.

But today's releases are not a solution. They are a necessary response to an immediate problem. The real question is what happens next.

Looking beyond the immediate crisis

For too long, the conversation about prisons has been driven by crisis management. Each time capacity runs low, attention turns to how we can create a little more space. Yet the challenge is much bigger than the number of prison places available at any given moment. We need to ask what kind of justice system we want, what outcomes we expect it to deliver, and how we can build a system capable of achieving them.

If the goal is to prevent future victims and create safer communities, then rehabilitation must be at the heart of the answer.

What a rehabilitative system looks like

Prisons must do more than simply contain people. Rehabilitation is about helping people leave prison with homes, jobs and education. Vitally, it is also about what happens inside a person. Prisons must be environments where individuals can prepare for release from the first day of their sentence, maintain relationships with their families where this is safe, and address the challenges that contributed to their offending. We should aspire to a system in which prisons are not factories of crime but places of redemption, in which people who have committed crimes against others can take accountability for the harms they have caused and gain insight into themselves. We need a system where people can catch a sense of hope for the future: good lives, free from crime, in healthy relationships with those around them.    

A prison system that is constantly operating at or near full capacity struggles to do these things well. Staff work under immense pressure. Purposeful activity becomes harder to deliver. Release planning becomes more difficult. Families, which should be the golden thread running through a sentence and beyond release, too often fall by the wayside. In short, opportunities for rehabilitation are lost.
If we are serious about building a justice system that works for victims, communities and those leaving prison alike, then we need to ensure the system has the capacity to fulfil its purpose.

Creating capacity for the long term

That requires action on several fronts.

The Sentencing Act has already recognised that short prison sentences are often ineffective and can do more harm than good. We support efforts to reserve prison for those cases where it is necessary, while making greater use of effective community-based approaches.

We also need to address the sharp rise in recalls to prison. Recent figures show that recalls now exceed releases. While recall remains an essential public protection measure in some cases, the overwhelming growth has not been driven by people committing new offences. Too often, people are caught in a cycle between prison and probation that neither supports rehabilitation nor makes communities safer.

Reducing unnecessary recalls does not mean compromising public safety. It means ensuring people are properly prepared for release, have stable accommodation, can maintain positive family ties, and receive the support they need from probation and community services. It also means investing in those services so they have the resources required to do the job well.

A chance to build something better

None of this is easy. Years of pressure on the justice system have left us in a very difficult position.
But difficult moments also offer opportunities.

Today's releases, and those that will follow in the coming months, have created some breathing space. The challenge for Government now is to use that space wisely. Rather than simply anticipating the next capacity crisis, ministers should focus on building a justice system that is fairer, more effective and better equipped for the long-term.

At its best, our justice system should see people leave prison better equipped to live stable, crime-free lives. If we can achieve that, we can reduce pressure on prisons, strengthen rehabilitation and, ultimately, prevent future victims.

That is the opportunity at hand. It should not be wasted.