Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking with the Home Secretary to ensure that police and probation services have adequate capacity, including in staffing and funding, to effectively manage the number of offenders being released on licence from October 2026.

The Sentencing Act 2026 reforms will result in certain offenders being released from custody on licence earlier than otherwise through the Progression Model. The Sentencing Act is necessary to manage prison capacity, though it will create some short-term operational pressures, which underlines the importance of strong cross-system partnership working.

The Government assessed the impact of the Sentencing Act 2026 reforms through its published Impact Assessment and is working with probation, policing and local partners to manage implementation. In Herefordshire, as elsewhere, the Probation Delivery Unit model provides local probation leadership with visibility and understanding of local needs and pressures, supporting services to respond to the circumstances in their area. The Impact Assessment can be accessed here: Sentencing Act Impact Assessment.

This Government is committed to ensuring the Probation Service has the capacity it needs to manage offenders safely in the community, including those released on licence from October 2026. We are significantly increasing investment in Probation and the community across the spending review period. This includes recruiting 1,300 trainee probation officers in 2026-27, strengthening electronic monitoring and investing in accommodation services.

Through the Our Future Probation Service programme, we are rebalancing demand and capacity across the Probation Service by introducing process improvements, policy changes and better digital tools to reduce the administrative burden on probation practitioners and enable staff to focus more on public protection and rehabilitation. The latest published Probation Service workforce statistics are available in the HMPPS workforce quarterly statistics: HMPPS workforce statistics.

The Ministry of Justice will continue to work closely with the Home Office and policing on the implementation of the Sentencing Act, including monitoring operational impacts and implications for policing, and strengthening cross-system coordination. Responsibility for funding decisions and police capacity sit with the Home Office and HM Treasury.