The Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has shared an update on the Early Release Scheme under the new Sentencing Act which is due to come into force in October. The key highlights from the update including additional offences which will be excluded from the Early Release Scheme and a package of support that will be made available for victims of crime who may be impacted by the early release of someone who harmed them.
The first strand of the announcement, that lists the additional offence types excluded from early release, follows the public campaign to exclude the killers of PC Andrew Harper from release. Led by PC Harper’s family, the campaign led to a commitment from Andy Burnham to do ‘everything possible’ to ensure that Albert Bowers and Jessie Coles were not released from prison as part of the new scheme to address the prison overcrowding crisis. Now added to the list of excluded offences is “all forms of manslaughter, death by dangerous driving, causing or allowing the death of a child and indecent assault offences from the progression model, in addition to rape and certain child sexual offences previously announced.” The details of all exclusions will be available here.
As well as the new exclusions, the Prime Minister also announced an £18.9m victim support package to address the needs of people affected by the changes; “We know that this may affect victims who are using your services and may have questions and need additional support during this time.” The package has three strands: a national helpline, additional funding for Police and Crime Commissioners and VAWG-specific support. Find out more about these three strands in their new factsheet.
People within the restorative sector are likely to be working closely with people impacted by the Early Release Scheme so we are sharing these updates to help us all understand the upcoming changes and the resources available to people who are impacted. It is crucial that people harmed by crime are supported through this transition. Restorative values such as empathy, dialogue, listening and person-centred care can also be utilised to ensure that victims of crime affected by the Early Release Scheme can have a voice. We welcome the introduction of further support for victims of crime and encourage the Government to continue to provide essential support to harmed people and those leaving prison.
