Prisoner Early Release Scheme

Lord Davies of Gower Excerpts

Thursday 23rd July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Katz (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is correct, and I know that is why my noble friend Lord Timpson spent so much time focusing on probation, as well as the prison estate. That is why we are investing a record amount of £700 million in probation and associated activities. For instance, we are having the biggest expansion of tagging in history. We are already tagging at record levels and will be investing £100 million to expand our ability to monitor even more individuals in the community. That is not just a straight location tag; it could be a GPS tag that addresses an exclusion measure, or one that addresses drug or alcohol addiction. We are clear that offenders are going to be subject to strict conditions after their release. Indeed, the Probation Service will be given tough new powers, including restriction zones, to be used for the most serious offenders. We are trying to move at pace, but in a way that makes sure we do not create more problems for ourselves. That is why we are committed to this record investment in probation.

[Lord Davies of Gower (Con)]

My Lords, I join the Minister and support everything he said in relation to the family of PC Andrew Harper. I note what he said in response to my noble friend Lord Effingham. The Minister is keen to relate everything to the past, but this is about the future. I remind him that, during the passage of the Sentencing Bill in this House, the Government repeatedly assured us that the most serious offenders would not benefit from early release. Can the Minister explain how that assurance sits with the fact that two of PC Harper’s killers, convicted of the manslaughter of a police officer, received sentences that make them eligible for release at the halfway point under the scheme? Further, can he confirm that the Government do not consider those involved in the killing of police officers as among the most serious and heinous offenders?

[Lord Katz (Lab)]

To answer that last point first, this Government, like the previous Government and like every Member of your Lordships’ House, certainly consider the murder of police officers, or anybody involved in protecting us—such as those in the emergency services who would run to danger when we might run away from it—as the most serious and heinous of offences. The noble Lord says that we are focusing purely on the past, but we are not. We are acting to avert a crisis in prison places. That is why we are delivering the largest expansion since the Victorian era, with 14,000 prison places to be in place by 2031. We have already delivered over 3,000 of those places, when only 500 were delivered over 14 years of the previous Government. We are doing what we have to do to address this crisis. Be in no doubt that those involved in serious crime will be treated with the same amount of passion and action as they would be by any Government. The most important thing is to have public confidence in the criminal justice system and in the safety of our streets. This Government will always act to ensure that.