Why are more than 1,700 prisoners being released early?

Available for over a year

This is a time of major crisis for jails across England and Wales – and that pressure is not just because of violence in prisons cells, or overstretched prison staff, even though that is a reality for many facilities. The more immediate pressure is that spaces for new inmates are about to run out, which is why the new government’s immediate solution is to release some offenders early. In this episode of the 5 Questions On podcast, Michael Daventry asks the BBC’s home and legal correspondent Dominic Casciani which offenders are being released – and whether the scheme will work. (Image: Getty Images)