Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many victims (a) have been contacted to inform them that their perpetrator will be released from prison early in the first ten tranches of the early release scheme following the new offence exclusions; and (b) were previously contacted to inform them that their perpetrator could be released from prison early as part of the early release scheme but have since been contacted to advise that they will not be following the new offence exclusions.

The Sentencing Act 2026 contains provisions which change the proportion of a standard determinate sentence which must be served in prison before the offender serving such a sentence is released automatically on licence (“the progression model”). Eligible victims who have opted into the Probation Service Victim Contact Scheme, where the offender is serving a standard determinate sentence, were informed of the commencement of the legislation. They have subsequently been updated on whether the release date for the offender in their case has changed or remained the same.

According to information held on the Probation Service Victim Case Management System, as of 13 October 2026, 8,283 letters had been issued to victims engaged with the Victim Contact Scheme to inform them of either a change in the release date of an offender in their case or to confirm there had been no change to a release date.

9,737 letters were issued to victims engaged with the Victim Contact Scheme to inform them of the legislative changes to prisoner release arrangements under the Sentencing Act 2026. This figure should not be interpreted as the number of offenders affected by the changes as not all eligible victims choose to participate in the Victim Contact Scheme, and some offenders have multiple victims linked to their case. The remaining letters updating victims to the outcome of sentence recalculations are scheduled to be sent out by Friday 16 October. Any discrepancy between the original number of letters sent out and the follow up letters can be put down to victims no longer engaging and the change to the implementation date where some offenders were released at their original dates in September. Figures are also subject to amendment following a full data check has taken place once all letters have been sent.