Recall to prison needs urgent reform to avoid overcrowding crisis, charity warns Urgent reform is needed to avoid another prison overcrowding crisis as rising numbers of people being recalled to prison is “trapping” them in the criminal justice system, a new report has warned.
A briefing by the Prison Reform Trust found 32,404 were people recalled into custody in the year to September 2024, a rise of 27% on the previous year, with the jump particularly affecting those serving prison sentences of less than 12 months.
In April last year, Fixed Term Recall Statutory Order came into force which means less serious offenders serving less than 12-month sentences can go back to prison for a fixed period rather than being recalled for the remainder of their sentence, or until the Parole Board deem them safe to re-release from custody.
Prison Reform Trust chief executive, Pia Sinha, said: “Today’s briefing highlights the urgent need for further reforms to recall and our use of short prison sentences.
“The evidence is clear – short prison sentences are less effective than other community sentences at reducing crime, and the growing use of recall is trapping people in the criminal justice system, rather than supporting them out of it.
