Hello, I'm Susan Hume and this is the Yesterday in Parliament podcast.

On Monday the 10th of November, the prisons minister defended staff over the recent mistaken releases of offenders.

It might seem extraordinary that offenders are sometimes let go when they shouldn't be,

but according to the prison's minister, the process is harder than it looks.

We're often dealing with individuals, with different aliases, with multiple convictions,

and we need to make sure we get it right.

The prisons minister, Lord Timpson.

Last Wednesday, the Deputy Prime Minister David David Lamey, was asked repeatedly in the

Commons about the issue of mistaken releases, but he made no mention that an Algerian sex

offender, Brahim Kudur Sharif, and another man, had been wrongly let out of Wandsworth Prison

last month.

The news emerged just after he sat down. A conservative

Lord Hayward wanted to know when the Secretary of State was first notified of the accidental

release of the said gentleman. Lord Timson tried to explain. Both the Deputy Prime Minister

and myself were identified first thing on Wednesday morning when we woke up and we, the Deputy Prime Minister and myself were identified first thing on Wednesday morning when we woke up.

And the Deputy Prime Minister quite rightly thought it was irresponsible to potentially give incorrect information to Parliament.

The information was changing rapidly.

And the Deputy Prime Minister didn't want to mislead Parliament without all the details.

Sitting behind the Minister, Labour's Lady Ramsey, got up with an easier question.

What, if any, impact, the previous government's austerity measures and policies over a decade or more

have had on the prison service today?

Lord Timson thanked her for asking that and replied.

...