England and Wales are due to begin releasing about 700 prisoners early on Thursday, as the first stage of a scheme expected to release more than 4,500 people by June. The domestic abuse commissioner, Dame Nicole Jacobs, warned that survivors may feel unsafe and lose confidence in the justice system, saying some are moving home because they do not trust the safeguards.

The scheme is intended to ease overcrowding and will reduce the time served by many prisoners, with some serving 40 or 50 per cent of their sentence released after 33 per cent. Rape, serious child sexual and grooming offences, manslaughter and other unlawful killings were excluded after public criticism, though many domestic abuse perpetrators remain eligible. Ministers have promised risk assessments and electronic tagging, but a National Audit Office report cited problems with tagging and questioned whether it can be safely expanded.