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Violent partners will be allowed to “return to harassing, stalking and abusing” with impunity under a bill before parliament that is supposed to ease prison overcrowding, a watchdog has warned the lord chancellor.
In a letter to David Lammy, the domestic abuse commissioner, Dame Nicole Jacobs, said the sentencing bill’s aim to re-release the vast majority of offenders recalled to prison after 56 days would mean that victims and survivors “will be put in harm’s way” and lead to “devastating consequences”.
The letter, which has been shared with the Guardian, comes as ministers face unprecedented pressure to use the bill, which is at its second reading in the House of Lords, to free space in England and Wales’ jails and ease pressure on a creaking criminal justice system.
The letter was disclosed after Lammy on Tuesday told MPs that 91 inmates had been wrongly set free since April this year, and claimed that “prisons throughout the country are underfunded, they’re understaffed, and they’re operating under relentless strain”.
Jacobs called on Lammy to amend the bill so that domestic abuse perpetrators who contact their victims go through new risk assessment checks instead of being automatically released after seven weeks.
“Domestic abuse perpetrators who are recalled are among the most dangerous. They are fixated on their victims, know everything about them and will stop at nothing to maintain control.
“When they are released, we know they are likely to return to harassing, stalking and abusing their victim. While these despicable behaviours may rightly see them recalled to prison, victims’ lives will likely have been put at risk in the process.
“Re-releasing these perpetrators in as little as eight weeks sends the wrong message to victims and abusers. It tells perpetrators that they can continue their abuse with impunity and will embolden some of them to escalate their behaviour, which could lead to devastating consequences.”
Under rules in place until July, the vast majority of offenders released on licence or parole who then breach the conditions of probation are “recalled” back to prison to serve the rest of their sentences, unless ordered otherwise by a parole board.
Since July, emergency measures were introduced to ease overcrowding in prisons so that offenders serving one to four years who were recalled for breaching the licences were rereleased after 28 days.
Under the bill’s reforms, the government is making the emergency measures permanent for nearly all offenders. Standard recall for most offenders has been dropped and replaced with a fixed-term recall of 56 days, skipping any need to appear before a parole board.
A small number of criminals will be exempt, including terrorists and criminals who are subject to enhanced risk management with police, prisons and probation services.
Jacobs called on Lammy to amend the bill so that any offender who is recalled to prison for a breach against their victim is held in prison until they are assessed as safe to be let out.
“These enhanced checks would prioritise the safety of victims, keeping the most dangerous abusers in prison until their risk has been reduced,” she said.
Crime statistics for the three months to March this year show a 36% increase in total recalls compared with the same quarter in 2024. Around 75% of recalls involved non-compliance with license conditions, and 23% related to further offending.
Because the majority of domestic abuse crimes are not flagged past the point of conviction, it remains difficult to determine how many perpetrators of domestic abuse have been recalled and re-released, or the basis for their recall.
The letter also accuses ministers of delaying the publication of a violence against women and girls strategy, despite a Labour manifesto promise to halve violence against females.
“With the continued delays to the publication of the VAWG strategy and the expansion of schemes which reduce the time perpetrators spend in prison, many victims and survivors will rightly be wondering what the government is doing for them,” Jacobs wrote.
Officials have said that the 56-day period will allow the probation service to undertake a thorough review of release plans and licence conditions before offenders are re-released.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The government inherited a justice system in crisis, days away from running out of prison cells which would have left the public and victims at significant risk.
“This change was recommended by the independent sentencing review, increasing fixed-term recalls from the current 14 or 28 days so probation staff have more time to assess risks and put robust safeguards in place.
“The most dangerous offenders will only be rereleased once assessed as safe and all offenders released face strict licence conditions and supervision.”
