Burnham pauses early prison release scheme
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The early prison release scheme in England and Wales has been paused by Prime Minister Andy Burnham. The scheme, which was set to release thousands of prisoners early, was introduced to ease overcrowding in the prison system. The pause will allow for an urgent review to minimize risk to the public.
- ▪The scheme would have allowed some offenders to be released after serving a third of their sentence.
- ▪Those who previously served two-thirds of their sentence would have been released after serving half under the new policy.
- ▪The policy was criticized by opposition parties, victims, and their families due to concerns over public safety.
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Burnham pauses early prison release schemeImage source, Getty ImagesPublished23 July 2026, 15:04 BSTUpdated 1 minute agoAndy Burnham has announced he is pausing a scheme which would have seen thousands of prisoners in England and Wales eligible to be released early."No prisoners will be let out under this policy until we have conducted an urgent review and done everything we can to minimise risk to the public," the prime minister said.In 2024, the Labour government announced emergency measures to release some prisoners early to ease overcrowding.Under the Sentencing Act, which was due to come into effect in September, some offenders would have been let out after serving a third of their sentence.Those who previously have served two-thirds would instead be released after serving half of…
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