About 2,000 prisoners in England and Wales, including violent offenders and domestic abusers, are due to be freed early over the next month, with 3,000 more to follow over the coming year, to ease prison overcrowding. Probation officers and the union Napo warn that hostel places are running out, staff are overstretched and electronic tagging is unreliable, so some people may be released onto the streets. The Ministry of Justice says it is expanding tagging and investing £700m in probation and community services, but the warnings matter because leaving prison homeless is linked to a higher chance of reoffending.