Prison release numbers under new England and Wales scheme will not be published separately

The Ministry of Justice will not publish a separate total for prisoners freed under its new early-release scheme in England and Wales.

Instead, those figures will be included in existing statistics, where they cannot be separated out.

The scheme began on October 1, when about 700 prisoners were released, and is expected to expand in stages.

At first, it covered people serving sentences of up to 19 months; later stages will include people serving longer sentences.

The government has said the scheme could free up to 50,000 prisoners a year.

Critics say the lack of separate figures will make it harder for the public and MPs to assess the scheme.

The scheme is set to expand monthly, with the final stage planned for early June.