Prisoners have thanked Andy Burnham as they walked free from jail early on Thursday.
The first wave of releases began on October 1, with a total of 700 criminals expected to be freed across the country.
One prisoner, holding his belongings in a bin bag, said to the press as he left HMP Durham in north east England: “Justice system, what justice system? Thank you Andy Burnham”.
Another prisoner gave a thumbs up to cameras as he walked away.
Another man who said he had been released early from prison described himself as “very” cheerful.
Giving his name only as John, he told reporters outside HMP Wandsworth that he was meant to serve a six-month sentence for a “minor” conviction but has been released after two months.
Asked if he was feeling cheerful he said: “Yeah, very.”
He told reporters he will “have a beer and get a fry up”.
Meanwhile a man leaving HMP Cardiff in Wales, who was asked if he had a message for the Prime Minister, said: “Thank you very much and don’t get me back here again bro.”
The inmates are among thousands the Government says it has been forced to let out to free up space in overcrowded jails.
Tom, 32, who was jailed for burglary, is among prisoners being released from HMP Cardiff early.
He told reporters: “I think it’s s**t to be honest with you.
“I’d happily spend my time in there, I mean, I’ve been doing it for 17 years. I’ll probably be back in the next month or two.
“It’s like a reset for me, this is. I get out, I take beer, drugs… Go back in, put a bit of weight of on, do it all again.
“I got nothing better to do with myself, I’m homeless, so what else am I going to do? You can’t be homeless and sober at the same time.”
Tom added that others in the prison were “buzzing” at the prospect of being released early.
“They’re all loving it,” he said.
The Conservative Party say the Government is putting the public at risk.
Shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy said the public would “pay the price” for the decision, which ministers have said is necessary to create capacity in jails.
The former adviser to Theresa May during her time as prime minister said the policy was an “insult to victims”.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said offenders would be monitored under the “toughest supervision in British history”.
However, Mr Timothy said: “Today’s releases are an insult to victims, a danger to the public, and will only encourage more lawbreaking from criminals who know they have a ticket out of prison.
“Labour say they have no choice but to release prisoners early, but we know they don’t believe in prison. It is their decision to release vile criminals including abusers, historic child sex offenders and human traffickers – but it is the public who will pay the price.
Ahead of the releases Ms Waxman said the coming weeks would show whether the safeguards work.
There have been concerns over whether the restraints on criminals would be effective, despite reassurances from ministers.
This includes “restriction zones” which will confine the movements of high-risk sexual and violent offenders within a set area.
It comes alongside the “biggest-ever” expansion of electronic monitoring, and a ban for offenders from pubs, clubs and public events.
However, Natalie Queiroz, who along with her then-unborn child, survived an nine-minute knife attack by her former partner in 2016, said victims were still unclear on how successful restriction zones would be.
Her attacker, Babur Raja, who was jailed for 18 years for attempted murder, is due to come up for parole in 2028.
The professional body for probation officers said the releases would create more work for an under-staffed probation service already under strain.
Ms Waxman said: “Victims and the public have been repeatedly assured that robust safeguards are in place and that those released will face the toughest supervision ever imposed on offenders in the community. Those are significant claims.
“As Victims’ Commissioner, my concern is that the confidence being projected by government is not yet matched by the reality on the ground.
“Bold assertions in press releases are no substitute for effective planning, robust preparation and consistent delivery. All three have been in short supply.”
The plan to free up capacity in the overcrowded male prison estate comes as figures show the number of people behind bars has jumped by more than 1,700 in the past three months.
Some 5,000 prisoners are scheduled to be released in stages over the next year, down from 6,000, after ministers intervened to exempt rapists and the most serious child sex offenders.
Under a separate process introduced by the previous Conservative government, 13,325 prisoners in England and Wales were freed early between October 17 2023 and September 9 2024.
The prison population of England and Wales stood at 87,499 on Monday, according to weekly data published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).
This is up from 85,761 on June 29 – a rise of 1,738, or 2%.
Ministers say the expanded early release scheme is needed to prevent the justice system from collapsing, after a summer when the issue dominated news headlines.
Criminals will be excluded from the scheme if they have been jailed for a range of offences, including members of child grooming gangs convicted of indecent assault.
Prisoners guilty of manslaughter will also be excluded, meaning the killers of Pc Andrew Harper, who died in the line of duty in 2019, will not be eligible.
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