Around 1,000 prisoners have been exempted from the Government’s early release scheme under changes announced late on Monday.
The scheme, introduced by this year’s Sentencing Act, is part of a drive to ease prison overcrowding which ministers have warned could see the justice system collapse.
Here the Press Association looks at the key questions following the changes.
– What changes did the Sentencing Act make to prisoners’ release dates?
Most criminals do not spend the whole of their prison sentences behind bars, instead serving a portion of it in jail before spending the rest on licence – released, but subject to strict conditions that could see them returned to prison if breached.
Previously, offenders with standard determinate sentences – the most common type of prison sentence – were automatically released after serving 50% of the time.
In 2024, this was reduced to 40% to cope with prison overcrowding.
The Sentencing Act 2026 cut that period further for many prisoners, reducing it to a third of the sentence.
For prisoners serving standard determinate sentences of more than four years for certain violent and sexual offences, it reduced the automatic release point from two-thirds of the sentence to halfway.
Those offences included rape, manslaughter, assault by penetration and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
– Who was already exempt?
The changes only applied to those serving standard determinate sentences, meaning those with other sentences such as life or an extended prison term would not see any reduction in the time they spend behind bars.
This meant more than 17,000 offenders were already ineligible for early release.
Offenders could also see their earlier release date pushed back if they break prison rules.
– What changes has the new Prime Minister announced?
For those already in prison, the changes were due to be phased in from September, starting with inmates serving sentences of less than 575 days and increasing to those serving 12 years or more in June next year.
But Andy Burnham paused the plans on coming into office after a public outcry.
On Monday, the Government announced that prisoners serving sentences for rape or child sex offences would also be exempt from the changes.
And he pushed back the date when the new sentences would come into force from September to October to give the Probation Service more time to prepare.
– How many prisoners will be released?
About 5,000 offenders are expected to be released early over the 10 months the new scheme is phased in, down from 6,000 before Monday’s announcement.
The Ministry of Justice has not announced whether the whole timetable for phasing in the new sentences has been pushed back, which would see the longest-serving prisoners released in July next year instead of June.
On Tuesday, Justice Secretary Alex Norris did not say how many would be released in the first tranche in October as the relevant sentences were still being recalculated.
– What will happen to those who are released?
The Government has said offenders who are released early will be subject to tougher licence conditions, overseen by the Probation Service.
These include electronic monitoring, random drug testing and possible bans from driving, pubs and events such as football matches.
– What does this mean for Pc Andrew Harper’s killers?
Mr Burnham’s urgent review of the early release plans was prompted by anger that two of Pc Harper’s killers would be released early.
The 28-year-old police officer sustained fatal injuries after being dragged down a country road by three teenagers fleeing the scene of a burglary in a car in 2019.
The driver of the car, Henry Long, was not eligible for inclusion in the early release scheme as he had received an “extended” sentence of 16 years after the judge deemed him “dangerous”.
That remains the case, and he will remain in prison until at least 2030 when he becomes eligible for consideration by the Parole Board for release.
His accomplices, Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, remain eligible as they received standard determinate sentences for manslaughter, which is not one of the offences exempted from the changes.
They were each jailed for 13 years and were initially due to be released automatically after serving two-thirds, meaning they would have been released around 2028.
They will now be released next year in June or July, depending on what happens to the timetable for phasing in the new sentences.
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