Dan Woodland
Live reporter

Image source, Charlotte Meijer

Charlotte Meijer is the founder of Open Justice for All, a campaign group advocating for a fairer justice system.

She welcomes the pause of the early release scheme and hopes the review will lead to it being changed.

Charlotte has spoken to several people who were told their perpetrators might be released early, which has caused them "so much anxiety and stress".

"It's just unbelievable that some women have fought for longer to get justice than these perpetrators have served in jail," she tells me.

Charlotte says the group recognises the state many prisons are in, but argues "it shouldn't be up to victims to have to bear the brunt of that".

She hopes, following the review, the early release scheme is changed to not include perpetrators of domestic and sexual abuse, while more long term solutions to increase prison capacity should also be looked at.

How crowded are prisons in England and Wales?published at 19:01 BST

19:01 BST

By Lucy Gilder

Successive governments have cited overcrowding as a key reason for releasing some prisoners early, so we have taken a look at what the prison population data shows.

At the start of this week there were 88,098 people in custody, external and 2,938 useable cells free in England and Wales.

This is nearly double the 1,505 useable cells available in the same week two years ago, shortly after Labour returned to power.

But the problem of crowded prisons has persisted in recent years.

About a quarter of all prisoners were living in crowded conditions , external- defined as when the number of prisoners sharing a cell is larger than the capacity it was designed to hold - in the year ending March 2025.

The approximate yearly share of prisoners in crowded conditions has rarely fallen below 20% since the end of the 1990s.

The average annual prison population rose sharply through that decade, but also saw peaks following the 2011 and 2024 riots in England, which saw the largest population since records began in 1900.

Image source, PA Media

Prime Minister Andy Burnham's decision to pause the early release of some prisoners who have served one third of their sentence in September follows campaigning by survivors.

Here's how those inside and outside the prison system have reacted as the government seeks to balance public safety with dangerous overcrowding:

• A sexual abuse survivor says victims "should never come second" to tackling prison overcrowding, and says it's a "relief we've been heard" after campaigning to review the early release scheme
• Meanwhile, the domestic abuse commissioner also welcomes the decision, warning it would have led to "dangerous abusers" being released into the community without proper protections in place for survivors
• The mother of PC Andrew Harper, Debbie Adlam, says that pausing is "a good start" but the scheme will need "to be looked at thoroughly"
• Victims' Commissioner for England and Wales Claire Waxman says she is seeking "urgent clarity" on what comes next, but says pressing ahead without proper safeguards would have been "the wrong course of action"
• The head of prison officer's union POA sas the pause is "correct" in order to allow Burnham and his justice secretary to examine the risk of the early release prisoners to the general public
• One prison officer labels the decision "bonkers" and warns the system could reach a critical point by November if there are no early releases as planned in September
• But another tells the BBC: "Public safety must come first", though warns "we don't have enough prison officers" to deal with overcrowded jails

The mother of PC Andrew Harper says that pausing the early release scheme is "a good start" but "it is not enough".

PC Harper, 28, was killed in 2019 when he was dragged by a car down a country road as three teenagers fled the scene of a quad bike theft in Berkshire.

Speaking to ITV News, Harper's mother, Debbie Adlam, says that the pause "is a good basis to begin working on some sensible alternatives and looking at options for going forward, because there’s so many people this affects, it’s not just us".

Adlam says: "I think it really needs a good looking at, not just a quick meeting and ‘that’s it, we’ll move on’.

“It needs to be looked at thoroughly and that’s what I’m hoping for. We want to see some results from it.”

Adlam previously told the BBC the possible release of Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers - two of the passengers in the getaway car which killed Harper - was "sprung" on her family and that it made her feel like her son had not been given "proper justice".

The Victims' Commissioner for England and Wales, Claire Waxman, says "pressing ahead without proper safeguards for victims would have been the wrong course of action" as she welcomes the government's decision to pause and review the early release scheme.

"Thousands of victims have already been told the offenders who harmed them could be released early, leaving many living with renewed fear and uncertainty," she says.

Waxman says she is seeking "urgent clarity" from ministers about what the decision means for victims, the timetable for what will happen next and how victims will be protected and kept up to date.

The commissioner has consistently warned that addressing pressures on prison capacity must not come at the expense of victim safety or public confidence in the justice system.

Jacob Phillips
Live reporter

A former prison officer has warned some prisoners may have been told they would be let out early and will be "frustrated" to find out this will not be the case.

"They do not react well to short notice change," explains Phil Hannant, who now sits on the Prison Officers Association's National Executive Committee, and warns that prison officers will be the ones telling offenders.

Hannant tells me prison officers had fears the early release scheme had been a "knee jerk reaction" and was too broad - adding that the shift means "the capacity crisis in prisons is going to ramp up again".

"The only thing that is going to solve the crisis in prisons is the huge investment in staff and the infrastructure of prisons," he says.

Hannant also highlights that it does not matter when prisoners are released if there is no support once they are let out - investment in the probation service to make sure prisoners are supported and guided so they do not reoffend is needed, he says.

Image source, Reuters

The early release scheme paused today by Prime Minister Andy Burnham followed a landmark review into the justice system, which concluded in May 2025.

Chaired by former Lord Chancellor David Gauke, the Independent Sentencing Review said major reforms were needed to end the "dangerous cycle of emergency releases". Here's some of its takeaways:

• The report warned the UK can't "build our way" out of the overcrowding crisis - despite government plans to allocate £4.7bn for prison building between 2026 and 2031
• Offenders should be given short custodial sentences of less than 12 months only in exceptional circumstances
• Suspended sentences should be allowed for up to three years and used for low-risk offenders with high needs, for instance people with substance abuse issues
• Gauke recommended an "earned progression model", where prisoners could more quickly move to a "post-custody" stage after serving one-third of their sentence if they behaved

After the review was released, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told the House of Commons she intended to accept most of its proposals. The Sentencing Act, given royal assent in January, was based in part on Gauke's review.

But, while agreeing that some prisoners would be eligible for release after serving a third of their sentence, Mahmood stopped short of allowing the most serious offenders to be released early.

Alex Norris has said the government wants to give "certainty" to victims as soon as possible, adding that it appreciates "the speed at which we need to get on with this".

The justice secretary does not confirm whether the Sentencing Act would be amended, saying he would not want to "run ahead" of the findings of the government's review of the policy and wanted to take "a little bit of time" to get the implementation right.

When asked whether there was a possibility that the legislation would proceed as originally intended, Norris says he does not want to be "drawn on hypotheticals".

He also says he is aware of how difficult the prison environment can be and how important the jobs that prison officers do are, adding: "We would never want to make their lives harder."

Image source, UK Pool

More from the justice secretary, who says the government will now be looking into "who might leave and when they would leave" prisons.

Norris says ministers and the PM will be looking at what measures would give victims reassurance if prisoners are let out, adding that they will be given information at the "right moment" to ensure they have the "maximum kind of understanding of what is going on".

Addressing victims and survivors of crime he says: "Give us a little bit of time".

"We've put an important pause on this policy. It gives us a little bit of time to look at this, to make sure we do our best by you," he says. Norris also asks prison officers to give the government "time to get it right".

Justice Secretary Alex Norris says "hundreds" of prisoners would have been released under the early release scheme in the autumn.

When asked about the number of prisoners that would have benefitted from the scheme in September, Norris says 700 was "the right order of magnitude".

Under the new Sentencing Act, some 6,000 criminals overall were set to be freed under the early prison release scheme.

He also acknowledges that he had not previously raised the concerns from victims and survivors about perpetrators being released early, but says that it's "right for victims and survivors to challenge" the government on the early release of prisoners

"We're having another look at it because we want to get it right for victims," he adds.

The domestic abuse commissioner for England and Wales has welcomed Prime Minister Andy Burnham's "swift action to fully pause the early release scheme".

Dame Nicole Jacobs says the measure would have led to "dangerous abusers" being released into the community, without protections in place for survivors.

"Ministers should never have underestimated the risk domestic abuse perpetrators pose to their victims," Jacobs highlights, adding that these individuals know where their victims live, where they work and where their children go to school.

Jacobs acknowledges the government needs to address overcrowding in prisons, but it "should not come at the expense of victims' safety". She urges the new government to exclude domestic abusers from the scheme.

Minister wrong to say Labour building prison places 40 times faster than Toriespublished at 17:00 BST

17:00 BST

By Lucy Gilder

In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, chief secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds said Labour is “now building prison places at 40 times the rate of the last Conservative administration”.

She added that the Tories “only built 500 places in the entire 14 years that they were in power”.

But this is not a like-for-like comparison, as Reynolds appears to be comparing total prison places created by Labour versus net prison places added by the Conservatives.

Ministry of Justice (MoJ) analysis shows the last Conservative government built 13,009 prisons places between 2010 and 2024, external, while an estimated 12,514 were closed. This means a net total of 482 places were added, which equates to 34 net prison places a year.

The MoJ told BBC Verify that Labour had delivered about 3,200 places so far - 1,600 for each of their two years in office, which is about 47 times higher than the Tories’ annual rate.

However, the MoJ also told us that this figure is only for new prison places and doesn’t factor in those taken out of use. It’s therefore not a direct comparison to the Tories’ net total.

The previous government enacted a range of reforms to the prison system as part of their bid to ease overcrowding in jails.

Among them was the early release scheme Andy Burnham said would be paused. Other measures to address overcrowding remain in place.

In March, courts were told to stop handing out short prison terms other than in a number of specific or exceptional circumstances. That means most offenders in England and Wales who would have faced up to a year in jail are now likely to receive no more than a suspended sentence.

The reform also includes allowing judges to suspend jail sentences of up to three years - a measure intended to slow down the rate at which criminals enter jail. Curbing short sentences but supporting criminals with rehabilitation is also seen as a step to stop people from re-offending.

In January, the government passed the Sentencing Act 2026 - a wide-ranging package of measures to ease overcrowding in prison. Ministers also hoped the new legislation would support criminals' rehabilitation.

Image source, PA Media

Reform UK's home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf has responded to the prime minister's announcement.

"The Tories imported 6.5 million people in 14 years and added just 455 prison places to cope," he says.

"Labour is continuing this failure. Reform will deport all foreign nationals in our jails and use the space to end early release so violent criminals stay where they belong: in jail."

We'll bring you more political reaction as it arises.

Image source, PA Media

Before Andy Burnham commmited to “put a pause” on the early release of prisoners, members in the House of Lords had been expressing their thoughts on the scheme.

Conservative former solicitor general Lord Garnier argued the government should free non-violent women from prisons instead of dangerous criminals.

“There are 3,650 women in prison in England and Wales, and about 2,500 of those people – that’s to say, 70% of the women’s prison population – are in custody for non-violent offences," he told peers.

He added that if the government "think it's better" to release violent criminals and sex offenders rather than non-violent female prisoners to free up space then "what the hell do they think they’re doing?”

In response, Labour frontbencher Lord Katz said there were "more sophisticated responses to the kind of the very simplistic problem" posed by Lord Garnier.

Leading lawyer and independent crossbencher Lord Pannick also questioned why releasing prisoners who are not subject to the most severe sentences, for example those serving 10 years or less, could not "adequately" reduce prisoner numbers.

Steve Gillan, general secretary of prison officers' union POA, says prisons have been overcrowded for many years, blaming the previous government.

"Whilst I understand the concerns about operational stability, it is right that the new Prime Minister Andy Burnham and the Justice Secretary Alex Norris, who has also just been appointed, examine the risk to the general public if prisoners are released too early from their sentence," he says.

"They are correct to pause the releases under the Sentencing Act 2026 to ensure there is adequate public protection in place and that victims of crime are put first.”

More than 60,000 released under ‘temporary’ Labour schemepublished at 16:10 BST

16:10 BST

By Lucy Gilder

A total of 60,108 prisoners were released under the government’s early release scheme between September 2024 and December 2025, according to the latest Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures.

There is no breakdown by offence type, as the MoJ only publishes figures for sex, age, nationality, ethnicity, sentence length and the prison they were released from.

This scheme, which allowed some prisoners in England and Wales serving a fixed-length term to be released after serving 40% of their sentence, was introduced as a temporary measure by Labour in September 2024.

Justice Minister Jake Richards previously described the old scheme as a “bridge to a more sustainable solution”. This solution was to come in the form of the Sentencing Act, of which the early release provisions have now been paused by Burnham.

A temporary scheme under the last Conservative government saw 10,082 offenders released early between October 2023 and June 2024.

This initially allowed some prisoners to be released up to 18 days before their release date. The Conservatives gradually increased this to a maximum of 35 days before extending it to 70 days.

Both governments said that early released prisoners would be subject to strict license conditions.

The policy - now paused - would have meant thousands of prisoners in England and Wales being eligible for earlier release. Under the scheme, which was due to start in phases from September:

• Offenders serving standard fixed sentences, who were due to be released after 50% of their term, would leave jail after serving 33%
• Serious sexual and violent offenders on fixed terms, who would have been released at 66% of that sentence, would be released after 50%
• These offenders would be intensively supervised but could lose the privilege of being out if they don't make progress towards rehabilitation
• The most serious offenders - including life prisoners and those who are subjected to extended monitoring - are not eligible under the scheme

Earlier this month, a number of grooming gang survivors wrote to MPs asking them to exclude sexual offenders from the early release scheme.

The letter, which was signed by five women from Yorkshire and the mother of a late victim from Rochdale, said that for any release under consideration or due to happen there should be "a clear legal duty" to tell victims "in good time".

The risks to themselves and their families should also be considered with "proper safeguarding and support in place before an offender is released", it added.

Sarah Wilson, one of the signatories, previously told the BBC she felt "let down all over again" after hearing that two of her attackers could be eligible for early release.

Seven men were convicted of offences against Sarah, from Rotherham, who has waived her right to anonymity.

• Read more about the letter in our news story

"It's such a relief that we've been heard," says Jade Belgrove, a survivor of sexual assault who has been campaigning against the early release scheme.

She tells BBC News that when she received a letter informing her that her attacker might be released early "it was horrific".

Belgrove says it even led her to question whether reporting the assault in the first place was worth it.

"I've had to find everything within myself to stand up and get my justice," she explains. "Then to feel like it was being completely taken away from me, I felt lost and silenced all over again."

While Belgrove says she understands overcrowding is an issue in prisons, she stresses "victims should never come second to that" and tells Prime Minister Andy Burnham to "put survivors at the front" of the upcoming review of the early release scheme.