Scotland’s early release law gets a tidy‑up this week. Regulations approved by Holyrood bring the statute book into line with the Prisoners (Early Release) (Scotland) Act 2025 and take effect on Friday 16 January 2026. The instrument, signed by Angela Constance and published on Legislation.gov.uk, confirms the changes. (legislation.gov.uk)

In plain terms, the regulations update transitory provisions so that sections 9B and 9C of the 1993 Act (as treated by the 2007 Act) no longer refer to release at the “half‑way point”. Instead, they point to the date a prisoner is “entitled to be released” under Part 1 of the 1993 Act-so timings now track the actual entitlement set by primary law, not a blanket half‑way rule. (legislation.gov.uk)

That matters because the 2025 Act changed the release point for short‑term prisoners. For most, automatic release is now at two‑fifths of the sentence; for sexual offences and domestic abuse cases it remains at one‑half. Those thresholds sit in section 1 of the 1993 Act as modified by the 2025 Act, and the new regulations make the surrounding text match that reality. (legislation.gov.uk)

There’s also a technical fix to ministerial powers. Section 9B(5) (on early removal for people liable to removal from the UK) is refreshed so ministers can, by order, amend the minimum time that must be served before early removal-mirroring their existing order‑making power for early release on licence in section 3AA(6)(b). It’s a consistency move drawn from the 2019 Act and the 2025 Act. (legislation.gov.uk)

Crucially, people liable to removal from the UK are excluded from early release on licence under section 3AA, which is why section 9B exists in the first place: it allows early removal before the automatic release date. The regulations keep that framework but align the timings to the updated entitlement rules. (legislation.gov.uk)

For readers in Cumbria, Northumberland and the Borders with family links to Scottish prisons, the practical takeaway is timing. Agencies will plan around the “entitlement to release” date in the 2025 Act rather than a simple halfway marker. That should reduce confusion for families arranging travel, housing and support around release days.

The context is tight capacity. Official Scottish Government statistics show the average daily prison population rose 4.5% in 2024–25 to 8,216, while monthly “live” data recorded around 8,350 in February 2025. Earlier emergency releases in 2023 eased numbers only briefly. These figures explain why ministers are tidying the rules that sit around release and removal. (gov.scot)

Process‑wise, ministers made the regulations using ancillary powers and laid them under the affirmative procedure. Holyrood has approved them, and they commence on 16 January 2026. The text on Legislation.gov.uk sets out the exact substitutions and the order‑making power now attached to section 9B. (legislation.gov.uk)

Nothing here changes a person’s underlying release entitlement-those rules were set by the 2025 Act. What this does is align the surrounding provisions so the timing for early removal and related detention mirrors the new law. For border communities and local services, the key date to watch is the entitlement date in the 1993 Act as amended. (legislation.gov.uk)