Prison governors in England and Wales will need to provide assurances that enhanced checks have been carried out before inmates are released from Monday.
The government has introduced new mandatory procedures after a migrant was mistakenly released from HMP Chelmsford on Friday and then re-arrested.
Justice Secretary David Lammy will outline the shape of an independent inquiry in Parliament on Monday into how asylum seeker Hadush Kebatu was mistakenly released.
Senior prison staff have told the BBC that the new checks will only add to their workload and put more pressure on a system that is already struggling to cope.
A prison officer has been suspended pending investigation but a senior prison staffer told BBC News the release was “down to a series of mistakes probably because staff are overworked and in short supply”.
Kebatu was arrested in the Finsbury Park area of north London at 08:30 GMT on Sunday, bringing an end to a 48-hour manhunt that began after he was let go in error from prison.
Kebatu, who was sentenced last month for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman in Epping while living in an asylum hotel, was due to be deported when he was mistakenly set free by prison staff.
His initial arrest in July sparked protests outside The Bell Hotel in Epping, where he had been living since arriving in the UK on a small boat.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said an investigation was already under way, adding: “We must make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
Kebatu is due to be deported later this week, Lammy has said.
A report from His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service said 262 prisoners in England and Wales were released in error between April 2024 and March 2025, up from 115 in the previous 12 months.
Asked why figures for wrongful releases were rising, Lammy, who is also deputy prime minister, said the Labour government “inherited a system that was collapsing [from the Conservatives]”.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting told the BBC on Sunday that the arrest was a “huge relief” and said Kebatu will “now be deported”.
He added: “The justice secretary has ordered an investigation into how on earth it was that a dangerous man who was due for deportation was instead released onto our streets.
“That work is under way, we will be open and transparent with the public about what went wrong and what we’re going to do about it.”
He had earlier said the Prison Service was under enormous pressure “but even against that backdrop it doesn’t explain or excuse the release of people on our streets who have no business being there”.
Former Conservative Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said an inquiry was necessary in order “to learn lessons”, and suggested the incident was symptomatic of wider problems with the prison system.
He told BBC Breakfast on Sunday: “The entire annual budget of the Ministry of Justice is spent by the Department for Work and Pensions in two weeks.
“My constant plea is to try to ensure the prison service gets the resources it requires to ensure we are recruiting and retaining people with skills and experience to make sure these problems don’t happen.”
The Liberal Democrat MP for Chelmsford, Marie Goldman, said Kebatu “must now be deported” and also pushed for a national inquiry.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the incident showed that the UK’s “once-trusted institutions”, including the police and prisons, were “disintegrating before our eyes”.
