Automatic releases of prisoners on Fridays are to end under plans by Dominic Raab to reduce reoffending and cut crime.

       The Justice Secretary is to change the law to allow governors to release prisoners earlier in the week after research showed that those freed on a Friday were more likely to reoffend.

       Around one in three offenders leave jail on a Friday, but can struggle to sort out accommodation, register with a GP and sign up for job support before services shut down for the weekend.

       This race against the clock can result in ex-offenders failing to get the support they need, so they end up homeless on the streets, where they can be easily drawn back into crime.

       Ministry of Justice (MoJ) research shows the release day can make a five per cent difference in the likelihood of reoffending, with 35 per cent of those freed on a Monday re-convicted within a year compared with 40 per cent for a Friday.

       Under the proposed rule changes, prisoners with severe mental health, addiction or mobility issues, or who have a long way to travel home, will be released on the Wednesday or Thursday ahead of their Friday release day. Officials said there would be strict security screening of eligible prisoners.

       Mr Raab, the deputy prime minister, said: “We are determined to cut crime and protect the public. That’s why we are changing the rules to avoid certain prisoners being released on a Friday.

       “By making sure prison leavers have the support they need to stay on the straight and narrow, we are reducing their chances of reoffending – and making our streets safer.”

       The release date of a prisoner is calculated in days from the point when they are sentenced. If they are due to get out on a weekend, they will instead be freed on the previous Friday, which is why it is the most popular day for releases.

       In the first 24 hours after being released an ex-inmate will have to meet their probation officer, submit a claim for Universal Credit and if homeless will need to contact their local housing authority to sort out emergency accommodation.

       However, many of these administrative processes cannot be started until the prisoner has physically been released and because a large number of inmates do not have valid identification documents such as a driving licences or passports, the system can be even more difficult to navigate.

       Mr Raab’s prisons white paper has proposed measures to end the “cliff edge” release including improved skills training and better links with employers so more offenders have a job when freed.

       It has seen the proportion of ex-offenders employed six months after release increase by nine per cent to 23 per cent in the year to March 2022.

       Resettlement passports are being introduced in prisons to bring together the “essentials” that offenders leaving jail need to live crime-free lives including ID, a CV, and a bank account.

       Schemes that would allow prisoners to set up their universal credit claims before they leave prison are also due to be trialled this year in advance of a planned national roll-out by 2024.

       Campaigners have long called for an end automatic Friday releases. Last year two Tory peers Lord Atlee and Lord Hodgson unsuccessfully tabled an amendment to the Police, Crime Sentencing and Courts Bill that would have given prison governors discretion over when to let inmates out.

       It was backed by Lord Bird, founder of the Big Issue, who said: “I know from when I was homeless the deep and interconnecting link between prison and the streets.

       “We need to break that link to have any hope of stopping this endless cycle of releasing people homeless, and seeing them go back into prison. Ending Friday releases, with the linked increased risk of homelessness, is one positive move towards that.”