{"id":7436,"date":"2026-04-20T14:31:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T13:31:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prisonersadvice.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=7436"},"modified":"2026-04-20T14:31:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T13:31:34","slug":"government-plans-digital-overhaul-of-prison-system-to-combat-mistaken-releases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prisonersadvice.org.uk\/wordpress\/2026\/04\/20\/government-plans-digital-overhaul-of-prison-system-to-combat-mistaken-releases\/","title":{"rendered":"GOVERNMENT PLANS \u2018DIGITAL OVERHAUL\u2019 OF PRISON SYSTEM TO COMBAT MISTAKEN RELEASES"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Government has announced an \u00a382 million package to \u2018digitalise the archaic paper-based prison system\u2019, in an effort to reduce the number of mistaken releases. This will include a new ID system, which will track&nbsp;individuals from&nbsp;arrest, through the courts, into custody and back into the community. For the first&nbsp;time, biometric technology&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;such as fingerprints and facial scans\u202f- will be used on&nbsp;all&nbsp;prisoners&nbsp;to verify their identities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This latest announcement forms part of the government\u2019s work to rebuild a \u2018broken justice system\u2019 and follows&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/response-to-the-independent-review-into-releases-in-error\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><u>Dame Lynne Owens\u2019 Independent Review into Release Errors<\/u><\/a>, which found that 179 releases in error took place between 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pia Sinha, Chief Executive of Prison Reform Trust, commented:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cAs Dame Lynne Owen\u2019s comprehensive report reveals, chronic under\u2011resourcing, high staff turnover, the loss of experienced sentence\u2011calculation specialists, fragmented IT systems, and an ever\u2011growing complexity of release rules have created conditions in which serious errors are far more likely. Lasting progress will depend on whether prisons are given sufficient, experienced staff with the time, tools and confidence to calculate sentences accurately. New systems and simpler rules will help, but unless staffing pressures are resolved, the system will remain vulnerable to further errors in future.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For further information,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/prisonreformtrust.org.uk\/prt-comment-independent-review-into-releases-in-error\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><u>click here.<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Government has announced an \u00a382 million package to \u2018digitalise the archaic paper-based prison system\u2019, in an effort to reduce [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Amelie","author_link":"https:\/\/prisonersadvice.org.uk\/wordpress\/author\/amelie\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The Government has announced an \u00a382 million package to \u2018digitalise the archaic paper-based prison system\u2019, in an effort to reduce 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