Section 31 amends section 255B of the 2003 Act to provide for it to apply only to relevant young offenders who are suitable for automatic release, including those recalled from HDC licence. The Secretary of State’s power to release a relevant young offender at any time under section 255B(3) is retained.
	Subsection (3) replaces existing section 255B(1) with new sections 255B(1), (1A) and (1B). Section 255A(1A) preserves the existing automatic release periods for relevant young offenders, who must be re-released after 14 days for a sentence of less than 12 months, and 28 days for a sentence of 12 months or more. Subsection (1B) provides that where a relevant young offender is recalled from HDC licence under section 254, the automatic release period is the later of the relevant period in (1A) (i.e., 14 or 28 days) and the requisite custodial period they would have served had they not been released early on HDC.
	Subsection (4) is a consequential amendment on the substitution of section 255A and amendments to section 255B.
	Subsection (5) puts the scenarios as to when a fixed term recall can be changed into a standard recall back to the position it was in before the 2025 Order.
	Subsection (6) inserts new sections 255B(11) and (12) to provide that an offender returns to custody for the purposes of section 255A(1A) and (1B) when they are detained in pursuance of the sentence (in prison or otherwise), and to point to the definition of relevant young offender in section 255A.
Part 2: Management of offenders after sentencing Section 31: Further release after recall: relevant young offenders suitable for automatic release