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Earned regression?

How a flawed approach to punishment risks making the prisons crisis worse

  • Published: 2025

  • Pages: 28

  • Publisher: The Howard League for Penal Reform

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Earned regression?

Additional days of imprisonment are a form of punishment awarded through prison disciplinary procedures.

The Howard League has long campaigned for their abolition, but the government has elected to make the existing mechanism of additional days the cornerstone of its new ‘earned progression’ model, as detailed in the Sentencing Bill introduced before Parliament.

This briefing explains how additional days are awarded, analyses their current use, and outlines our concerns as to the government’s plans around ‘earned progression’.

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