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Rape, serious child sexual offences and other grooming offences will be excluded from forthcoming changes to the point at which some prisoners can be released, the Government has announced.
The decision follows the Prime Minister’s review of planned changes under the Sentencing Act, which had been due to take effect in September. Wider releases have now been delayed until October to give probation services additional time to prepare and allow victims greater opportunity to have a say in restrictions placed on offenders.
Under the revised arrangements, offenders convicted of rape and serious child sexual offences will not be released earlier than under the current system. They will join existing exclusions covering more serious offenders, including those serving life sentences or extended determinate sentences and those assessed by the courts as particularly dangerous. More than 18,000 offenders serving serious sentences will therefore remain outside the earlier-release arrangements.
The wider reforms will alter automatic release points for offenders serving standard determinate sentences. For sentences currently subject to automatic release at 40% or 50%, the earliest release point will become one third, while those currently released automatically at two thirds will have an earliest possible release point of one half.
The Government said the changes were necessary because adult male prisons are operating at 98% capacity. It said the Prime Minister had wanted to go further in excluding offenders from the reforms but had concluded that doing so would risk the prison system reaching capacity and compromising public safety.
The Government is also introducing tougher supervision and electronic monitoring for offenders released into the community. Measures will include a presumption that offenders are tagged, near real-time monitoring of movements, alerts where an offender risks breaching an exclusion zone, random drug testing and powers for probation services to restrict offenders from driving, pubs and sporting events.
Those convicted of rape or serious child sexual offences who have served their full custodial sentence will face enhanced monitoring after release. This will include GPS monitoring for 12 months, continued placement in the highest probation supervision tiers and consideration of referral to Approved Premises.
Offenders identified as having links to organised child sexual exploitation, including grooming gangs, will also be subject to enhanced risk assessments, multi-agency management plans and stricter licence conditions.
The Government has announced a £10 million package of additional support for victims affected by the reforms. All affected victims are to receive increased contact, regardless of the length of the offender’s sentence, the offence involved or whether they are registered with the Victim Contact Scheme.
The package will also include additional funding for local frontline services providing trauma-focused support and a dedicated helpline, due to be available by October, offering emotional support and practical guidance.
The Government said implementation would be paused to allow more victims to be informed and, where they can be reached, to have a say on licence conditions, including exclusion zones and other restrictions.
The revised arrangements form part of a wider programme of prison and probation reform, backed by £700 million of investment and an additional 1,300 probation officers. The Government has also announced £100 million of additional funding for electronic tagging and restrictions on prison leavers attending public events, pubs and clubs.
The Progression Model is due to come into force on 1 October 2026. The Government said the model would also end automatic early release for offenders who behave badly in custody, with prisoners who breach rules or behave violently potentially remaining in prison for the entirety of their sentence.
