Jail night release claims denied

The Tories said prisons were not being managed competently

The government has dismissed Tory claims that the number of inmates allowed to stay out of jail overnight has risen to help ease overcrowding.

Prisoners nearing the end of their sentence can apply for special licences to stay out for up to four nights.

Figures obtained by the Conservatives show the number had nearly trebled from almost 4,000 in 2006 to 11,500 in 2008.

The Ministry of Justice insisted the scheme was for rehabilitation purposes, not for relieving population pressures.

The Conservatives claimed that because prisoners not in jail overnight were not counted in the prison population figures, the shortage of cells in England and Wales was being underestimated.

Shadow justice secretary Dominic Grieve said: "While there is a case for allowing some prisoners to stay home overnight as they approach release... overnight release should never be used simply because of a lack of prison cells.

"The trouble is that Labour's incompetent management has yet again brought prisons back to bursting point."

Reparative volunteer work, training, education, and maintaining family contact all contribute to resettlement and cutting crime Ministry of Justice

The Ministry of Justice said Resettlement Overnight Release (ROR) licences were granted to some prisoners, as they reached the end of their sentences, to help them to maintain family ties and make arrangements for work and accommodation on release.

Category A and B prisoners were not eligible, they said.

A spokesman said the rise may be due to the scheme having being phased in since 2006.

He said: "Reparative volunteer work, training, education, and maintaining family contact all contribute to resettlement and cutting crime.

"ROR exists to rehabilitate offenders and make communities safer, not to relieve population pressures. We are dealing with those pressures by putting in more prison places, with nearly 25,000 created since 1997."

Last month, prisoner numbers reached a record high in England and Wales.

There were more than 84,000 people in custody, with the current prison capacity standing at 85,404.

Earlier in the year the Prison Reform Trust said almost two-thirds of prisons were officially overcrowded.