Burnham pauses early prisoner release scheme due to start in September – UK politics live. Andy Burnham has paused the early prisoner release scheme that was due to begin in September.
Burnham intervenes to pause early prisoner release scheme, according to the latest reporting on the story.
Details
Available information indicates that I am working closely with the new Justice Secretary and have instructed my team to put a pause on the changes that were due to start in September.
Photograph: Andrew Aitchison/Corbis/Getty ImagesPrisons and probationBurnham’s review of prison early release scheme is causing chaos, says unionOfficials ‘do not know’ how to respond to potential changes to plans to start freeing up to 6,000 offenders.
Photograph: Andrew Aitchison/Corbis/Getty Images View image in fullscreen The early release scheme starting in September will involve prisoners being monitored with electronic tags.
The early release scheme starting in September will involve prisoners being monitored with electronic tags.
Burnham confirmed that Henry Long, the main perpetrator, “will not be subject to any early release” under the scheme, according to the latest reporting on the story.
Burnham said on Wednesday that he would examine the “the whole of the policy” with the new justice secretary, Alex Norris, amid preparations for the release of up to 6,000 prisoners across England and Wales from 2 September.
She said: “The prime minister’s statement saying he will review early release plans for September has created a sense of chaos in His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service.
The chief secretary to the Treasury, Emma Reynolds, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that Burnham wanted to look at the implementation of the early release policy.
Statements
«imminent, concrete direction»
Context
Andy Burnham’s pledge to review early release plans has created “a sense of chaos” across the Prison Service, probation officers have said.
This is really worrying for our members who are currently working hard on pre-release work for those due to come out in September, according to the latest reporting on the story.
The mother of police officer Andrew Harper said on Thursday it was “another letdown” for her son that two of his killers were being considered for early release.
Photograph: Thames Valley Police/PATania Bassett, Napo’s national officer, told the Guardian the union had asked prison managers whether all preparations for early release across England and Wales should continue but received no response.
Separately, Burnham has been urged to pause early release for all serious offenders.
View image in fullscreen Jessie Cole (left) and Albert Bowers, two of the killers of police officer Andrew Harper, may be eligible for early release.
The review has caused chaos in prisons, where managers are responsible for calculating release dates over several weeks from 2 September, according to the latest reporting on the story.
The Sentencing Act 2026 introduces an “earned progression model” that replaces automatic halfway release for prisoners serving standard determinate sentences in England and Wales with a tiered, behaviour-based system.
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Prisoners serving time for sexual or violent offences where the automatic release stage is set at two-thirds will become eligible for release at the halfway point, provided they have not committed serious breaches of prison rules.
Separately, Under the proposals, killers, rapists and sex offenders will be released early into the community and monitored by tags.
It will allow most prisoners to be released after serving a third of their sentence behind bars rather than 50%, with the rest of their sentence served under strict supervision in the community with the help of electronic tagging.
