Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reason the first two tranches of the early release scheme are scheduled to take place in October.

The Prime Minister and Lord Chancellor have listened to concerns about the implementation of important elements of the Sentencing Act. They subsequently took the decision to pause implementation of the progression model to ensure that two crucial things are balanced: the need to put victims at the heart of our work while ensuring we never run out of space to lock up the most dangerous criminals, a scenario which would represent the worst possible outcome for victims. The Prime Minister announced this pause on 23 July 2026.

Following the Government's review of the Sentencing Act, and the decision to exclude additional offences from the Progression Model, the commencement date was moved to 1 October 2026. As a result, the first tranche will take place on 1 October 2026, with the second tranche following on 13 October 2026 as originally planned.

The Progression Model is being implemented through a phased series of tranche releases to ensure safe implementation. The staggered approach supports sentence recalculations, victim notification, pre-release planning and probation preparation.