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Rapists, child sexual abusers and groomers will be excluded from early release plans to ease critical prison overcrowding in a major intervention by Andy Burnham.
The prime minister said on Tuesday that he will delay the planned early release of thousands of prisoners across England and Wales by a month until October.
But he will still allow domestic abusers and killers to go free including two men jailed for their role in the death of PC Andrew Harper.
The decision will put the lives of women and girls “at risk” and has “let down” serving police officers, a watchdog and a pressure group have warned.
It follows the suspension of Keir Starmer’s plans to release up to 6,000 offenders from prison early in September amid official predictions that prisons will be full in November.
Burnham suspended the scheme in his second week as PM after coming under intense pressure from MPs, victims, campaigners and frontline prison officers to halt the early release of serious sexual and violent offenders.
In a statement, Burnham said: “I asked for an urgent review of the prisoner release scheme. I fully understand the anger, anxiety and distress that’s been caused. I’ve heard that loud and clear. That’s why we’re making significant changes: offenders who have been sentenced for rape, serious child sex offences and other grooming offences will be excluded from the changes.”
The Ministry of Justice has declined to release the numbers of prisoners who will no longer be freed as a result of Burnham’s intervention.
It has also declined to say when its own internal modelling predicts that prisons will be full again, and if there are already plans for further early release schemes.
The domestic abuse commissioner, Dame Nicole Jacobs, said the decision to exclude those who have abused their partners was “wrong” and “puts victims’ lives at risk”.
“As I told the lord chancellor just last week, the danger perpetrators pose to their victim should not be underestimated. These are individuals who are fixated on their victim and will stop at nothing to control and cause harm.
“Measures that will keep domestic abuse victims safe still appear to be an afterthought.”
Andrea Simon, the London victim’s commissioner said the failure was concerning, given a shortage of probation officers with experience of handling complex offenders.
“This will alarm many survivors of abuse that are desperately concerned about their safety, particularly when there are real challenges in delivering tougher community supervision,” she said.
An early release scheme in 2024 included specific protections for victims of domestic abuse.
Victims’ groups had objected to the proposal for 6,000 people to be freed early from September under the new Sentencing Act. Debbie Adlam, the mother of the police officer Andrew Harper, said last month that the proposed inclusion of two of her son’s killers – Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers – was “another letdown” for their family.
Prisoners serving longer sentences of four years or more would be eligible for release at the halfway point of their term, rather than at two-thirds as had previously been the case.
The changes were due to be phased in, beginning with prisoners serving sentences of less than 575 days, going up to prisoners jailed for 12 years or more being eligible for early release in June next year.
The government has said that, after listening to victims’ concerns, rapists and child sexual offenders will not be eligible for the sentencing changes.
Prisoners serving time for some sexual or violent offences where the automatic release stage is set at two-thirds will become eligible for release at the halfway point, provided they have not committed serious breaches of prison rules.
This applies to Bowers and Cole, two of Harper’s killers who were jailed for 13 years in 2020 for manslaughter. Henry Long, the main perpetrator, will not be subject to early release.
Tiff Lynch, national chair of the Police Federation, said: “Allowing those who take an officer’s life to be released earlier to save the prison system from collapsing gravely risks undermining not only public safety but public confidence, causing real distress to bereaved families and sending entirely the wrong message about the value we place on those who protect us. The government must urgently rethink this decision.”
The Ministry of Justice also announced a £10m package for victim support and said the new justice secretary Alex Norris would look at reviewing “outdated” Imprisonment for Public Protection [IPP] sentences.
Other community measures will be put in place to protect victims of crime including tougher periods of supervision and restriction zones for offenders, Burnham said.
“I wanted to go even further as I know there will still be concerns about other offenders having their sentence shortened. But it’s not possible without the prison system reaching capacity and collapsing, which would put public safety at much greater risk,” Burnham said.
The announcement follows days of wrangling inside the Ministry of Justice and No 10 over how to calm public anger while still ensuring that the criminal justice system does not seize up.
Prisons have become a major point of political contention, with Labour blaming the Conservatives for creating the overcrowding crisis by increasing sentences while failing to build enough jails.
Responding to Burnham’s announcement, the shadow justice secretary, Nick Timothy, said: “Labour whipped their MPs to vote to let rapists, paedophiles, and grooming gang perpetrators out of prison early.
“Now they admit the Conservative campaign to stop this was right – this is a victory for victims.
“But their U-turn doesn’t go far enough. Some child sex offenders and killers, like those responsible for the death of PC Harper, will still be released early. And the trauma of victims being told their abusers may be released can’t be undone.
“One of Andy Burnham’s first acts as prime minister will be to let thousands of criminals – including killers and paedophiles – out early.”
