Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced significant changes to the United Kingdom's early release scheme, including measures to ensure that individuals convicted of manslaughter will remain in jail. The alterations are partly driven by the case of PC Andrew Harper, a police officer who was killed in the line of duty.
Burnham stated that these changes would be achieved in part by ending Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences. These sentences, available between 2005 and 2012, were given to offenders deemed to pose a significant risk of serious harm to the public. Under IPP sentences, prisoners could be held indefinitely even after serving their minimum term, awaiting Parole Board satisfaction that they no longer pose a public safety risk. Burnham expressed concerns that individuals on IPP sentences who had served their time were not being released, while others who committed serious crimes were being freed early.
According to Ministry of Justice data, as of June, 2,271 individuals were serving IPP sentences, with 856 never having been released due to Parole Board concerns about public safety. Burnham acknowledged that some of these offenders may pose a risk to communities and announced the establishment of a cross-party oversight group.
Legislation to terminate IPP sentences is expected to be tabled by the end of the current Parliament. The government also plans to implement powers early next year to deport some foreign criminals immediately after sentencing, preventing their return to the UK. These measures are intended to keep prisoners convicted of serious crimes incarcerated for substantial periods before removal.
Additional measures will see prisoners convicted of indecent assault, death by dangerous driving, historic child sex offenses, and causing or allowing the death of a child excluded from the early release scheme. New "restriction zones" will also be introduced to enhance protection for domestic violence survivors from perpetrators released early. Burnham indicated that these additional changes would result in hundreds more prisoners remaining behind bars. The justice secretary is scheduled to provide a more precise figure in Parliament on Tuesday.
The government is also reportedly working to increase prison capacity by converting existing spaces. However, it is understood that none of the announced measures are likely to create substantial additional prison capacity by the time the first group of prisoners becomes eligible for early release in October.
The prime minister made a "political decision" to utilize existing prison capacity to allow for the immediate implementation of the announced changes. Earlier in the month, Burnham had already announced exclusions for prisoners guilty of rape, serious child sex offenses, and grooming from early release eligibility.