Andy Burnham has said he will review the government’s controversial prisoner early release scheme with the justice secretary.
The scheme, under which thousands of prisoners are to serve shorter sentences after new laws were passed to address a prison overcrowding crisis, is due to begin in September.
Speaking in Bath on Wednesday, the prime minister said: “I’ve spoken to the new justice secretary. We will review the policy together and make further statements in due course.”
Asked about the early release of prisoners, which have again captured the headlines amid concerns from the family of police officer Andrew Harper, who died after being dragged behind a getaway car while trying to stop thieves stealing a quad bike. His mother said it feels like an “insult” that two of her son’s killers may be eligible for early release from prison.
Speaking in Bath, Burnham said he felt for the family. “Nobody can deny the pressure on prison places,” he said. “We did not invest in the prison estate when we should as a country, going back a decade or so ago, when it was clear that there was going to be pressure. That has created an unacceptable situation now.”
He added that he wanted to “assure” himself that everything “had been looked” at before the scheme went ahead. “I can give that assurance that every single part of this I will look into with the Justice Secretary,” he said. “I can’t say that I can change the policy completely, but I will look at it in detail before we go further forward.”
Killers, rapists and sex offenders will be among more than 5,000 prisoners freed early following a change in the law in January. Under the scheme some serious offenders will be eligible for release halfway through their sentences rather than two-thirds. Offenders convicted of less serious crimes will qualify for automatic release after serving half their sentences rather than two thirds, provided they have not seriously breached prison rules.
Unlike emergency measures which saw the release of tens of thousands of prisoners in the early months of the Labour government as prisons ran out of space, the new sentencing law includes no exemptions for prisoners convicted of serious crimes, domestic abuse or terrorism.
The scheme has faced fierce opposition from victims’ groups as well as opposition parties and some Labour MPs. Earlier this month the victims commissioner and the domestic abuse commissioner joined with former safeguarding minister Jess Philips to make rare coordinated intervention to warn the government about the scheme, which they say will put abuse victims at risk.
On Wednesday Claire Waxman, the victims commissioner, wrote to Burnham and the new justice secretary Alex Norris urging both men to look again at the early release scheme, and make it the “number one priority in their inbox”.
The measures were spearheaded by former Justice Secretary David Lammy who said that without the move the criminal justice system was at risk for collapse. Lammy, who was sacked by Burnham and replaced with Alex Norris on Monday, said the government had to press ahead with the scheme because of an impending capacity crisis across the prison state that could leave jails nearly full within six months. Timpson warned of a “complete breakdown in the criminal justice system”.
Burnham’s comments were welcomed by groups working with victims. Ciara Bergman, CEO of Rape Crisis England & Wales said: “Obviously there are significant challenges facing our government, including how over-crowding and under-resourcing is going to be managed, but the solutions to these challenges cannot come at survivors’ expense.”
Katie Kempen, Chief Executive at Victim Support, said the review was encouraging. “This review must urgently fix the fact that most victims currently have no way of knowing whether or not an offender could be released early. It is unacceptable that so many victims are being kept in the dark about this – that must change.”
Burnham also said there would be no immediate commitment to increase the income tax personal allowance as a means of easing the cost of living. But the prime minister suggested increasing the £12,570 tax-free personal allowance would be something that the government will look at in the budget this year.
It came as the prime minister reversed a decision to increase the bus fare cap to £3 made by his predecessor Keir Starmer, reinstating a £2 cap on bus fares across England to in a cost of living blitz that has also seen him scrap VAT on energy bills.