Probation officers get just days to prepare for early release of prisoners

2,000 Number of prisoners being released early on Tuesday, followed by another 1,700 on 22 October

- Rajeev Syal

88,521 Prison population in England and Wales as of yesterday, up 171 on last week and a new record figure

Probation officers have been given as little as a week's notice to prepare for serious offenders to be freed under the government's early-release scheme, the Guardian has been told.

About 2,000 prisoners are expected to be let out on Tuesday amid warnings of a coming rise in crime. But members of the probation officers' union, Napo, were only informed on 3 September that serious offenders would be released into their supervision.

Officers are usually given more than three months to prepare services to help monitor and rehabilitate a serious offender. The prison population in England and Wales reached a record high yesterday.

The justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said in July that the under which SDS40 scheme offenders with standard determinate sentences will be released after they have served 40% of their term - would be introduced in September to give the probation service time to prepare.