UK to release offenders early without promised victim safeguards
The UK government is pushing ahead with early prisoner releases to solve a capacity crisis, but missing safety nets are shifting the financial and psychological burden of state failure directly onto abuse victims.
Offenders in England and Wales will begin leaving prison early in September under a new Sentencing Act, but the government has failed to deliver the victim protection measures it promised. Victims commissioner Claire Waxman and domestic abuse commissioner Nicole Jacobs have written separately to justice secretary David Lammy and prisons minister James Timpson, urging an immediate halt to the early release of offenders convicted of crimes against women and girls.
The early releases are the latest attempt to manage a prisons capacity crisis that has been decades in the making. Unlike previous emergency measures that saw more than 38,000 prisoners released after Labour took power, this permanent legislation includes no exemptions for serious crimes, domestic abuse, or terrorism. Some violent and sexual offenders will now be eligible for release after serving half their sentence rather than two-thirds.
Charities warn that support services face being overwhelmed, while the promised state infrastructure to manage the transition simply does not exist. Jacobs noted that planning for a dedicated victim helpline promised in the Victims and Courts Act “has not even begun,” while Waxman warned that probation services cannot manage the volume of offenders. “Without the correct victim support systems in place, the state is leaving the responsibility of the prisons crisis in victims’ hands,” said Jess Phillips, who resigned as safeguarding minister in May.
That responsibility has forced victims to spend their own money on personal security. One victim of child sexual abuse told Waxman she bought CCTV after receiving her notification letter, stating: “I don’t trust the government to keep me safe any more.” Another woman, whose rapist breached a non-molestation order 26 times, said: “The victims are forgotten and the justice system is broken.”
The Ministry of Justice pointed to a £700m investment in probation by 2028 and £550m for victim support services, claiming the expansion of tagging and strict licence conditions will maintain public safety. However, Amelia Handy of Rape Crisis England & Wales said the reduced sentences feel unjust, while a petition by child rape survivor Jade Belgrove to stop the early release of sexual offenders has gathered more than 62,000 signatures. The political pressure is mounting, with the Conservatives forcing a non-binding motion demanding the law be rewritten to exclude rapists and paedophiles from the scheme.
