Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will outline his plans for increasing the number of early prison releases.

This Government inherited prisons days from collapse. We had no choice but to take decisive action to stop our prisons overflowing and keep the public safe.

Whilst measures like the SDS40 change provided the intended medium-term relief to the system, this was only ever a temporary change as a bridge to a more sustainable solution. That is why the Sentencing Act has been passed, to ensure we never run out of prison space again and to deliver a more sustainable solution to the prison capacity crisis.

The Sentencing Act 2026 introduces a new “Progression model” for standard determinate sentences, which creates a three-stage sentence: time in custody, a period of intensive supervision in the community, and a final licence stage. Offenders found by the court to be dangerous – those on Extended Determinate Sentences – will not be eligible. They will not be released any earlier than they are now; they can only be released after serving at least two-thirds of their custodial term when deemed safe by the Parole Board.  Likewise, offenders serving a life sentence or a Sentence for Offenders of Particular Concern will be out of scope of the progression model.

Under the model, for offenders serving standard determinate sentences, the Act states that the earliest release point will be one-third. For those serving standard determinate plus sentences for certain serious violent or sexual offences, their earliest possible release will be one-half.  Those who behave badly can be held in custody for longer through the independent adjudications process. The maximum number of added days per incident will be doubled.

All offenders will remain on licence to the end of their sentence and where an offender breaches their licence conditions, probation have a full suite of options for managing this, including recall to prison. We are also introducing restriction zones for the most serious sexual and violent offenders where appropriate, which will be enforced by electronic monitoring. Victims who are eligible and opted into the Victim Contact Scheme will be notified of an offender’s release, in line with existing practice and will continue to be able to make representations for licence conditions such as exclusion zones and no-contact orders.

This Government is committed to supporting all victims, including those who have experienced violence or domestic abuse. We are investing a record £550 million into victim support services over the next three years. Our Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy, “Freedom from violence and abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls” also outlines the concrete actions we are taking to halve VAWG in a decade, including by bearing down on perpetrators and supporting victims to get justice and heal.

The measures in the Act highlight that this Government is committed to strengthening public protection and ensuring the Probation Service has the tools and capacity it needs to keep communities safe, protect victims and change lives.