Prisoners in England and Wales could earn early parole through good behaviour and working, according to the justice secretary.
Shabana Mahmood has been on a fact-finding mission to Texas, which introduced a similar scheme of good behaviour credits in 2011.
Prisoners in Texas earn these credits through working in the week and keeping a clean disciplinary record.
Mahmood told the Daily Telegraph: “We’ve got to be open to all potential future constructions of sentences. If you’re going to think about incentivised behaviour, obviously it’s a carrot and a stick, isn’t it.”
David Gauke, a Conservative MP, is leading a review on sentencing for the Labour Government, expected to publish in Spring.
Prisoners in England and Wales could earn earlier parole through work, training and education, while refusing employment may extend sentences, the Telegraph reported.
The deputy editor of the charity Prison Reform Trust, Mark Day, said there are “important lessons” to be learnt from other countries.
He added that incentive schemes “may have potential” but on their own will not solve the UK’s “overuse of imprisonment.”
Reimprisonment rates in Texas has dropped to 16.9% since introducing the incentive scheme.
The state also tackled overcrowding by cutting its prison population from 150,000 to 135,000 through the model, alongside diversionary schemes and alternative punishments.
In England and Wales, most prisoners are released after serving 40-60% of their sentences.
A recent report from the Independent Sentencing Review criticised longer jail terms as a “knee-jerk” response.
They emphasise that ways to cut crime and reduce reoffending have been overlooked.