UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced in Bath on July 22, 2026, that he will review the government's prisoner early release scheme alongside newly appointed Justice Secretary Alex Norris, who replaced David Lammy at the Ministry of Justice. The scheme is due to begin in September 2026 under the Sentencing Act passed in January 2026.

More than 5,000 prisoners are expected to be freed early under the scheme, including killers, rapists, and sex offenders. The law lowered the point at which serious offenders can be released from two-thirds of their sentence to half. People convicted of less serious crimes can also be released at the halfway point instead of two-thirds, as long as they have not seriously broken prison rules. The Sentencing Act does not exempt anyone convicted of serious crimes, domestic abuse, or terrorism. The Guardian

Burnham stated he cannot change the policy completely but will "look at it in detail before going further forward." He said the prison overcrowding crisis was caused by lack of investment in prisons going back about a decade.

The scheme was spearheaded by Lammy, who warned the criminal justice system was at risk of collapse without it and that jails could be nearly full within six months. Former prisons minister James Timpson separately warned of a "complete breakdown in the criminal justice system." Tens of thousands of prisoners had already been released under emergency measures in the early months of the Labour government because prisons were running out of space.

Opposition to the scheme has been broad. Victims commissioner Claire Waxman and domestic abuse commissioner Nicole Jacobs joined with former safeguarding minister Jess Phillips in a coordinated effort in July 2026, warning the scheme would put abuse victims at risk. On July 22, Waxman wrote to Burnham and Norris urging them to make reviewing the scheme their "No 1 priority." The scheme has also faced opposition from victims' groups, opposition parties, and some Labour MPs. The family of police officer Andrew Harper said it felt like an "insult" that two of his killers could be eligible for early release. The Guardian

Parliamentary scrutiny has been intensifying. The House of Commons held debates on prisoner early release on June 29 and July 7, 2026. On July 16, Burnham was referred to in a House of Lords debate as "Prospective new Prime Minister," reflecting his political ascent at a moment when criminal justice policy is in flux. Hansard Hansard Hansard

The current scheme sits atop a layered history of early release mechanisms. The government's own SDS40 scheme, which allows certain prisoners who would normally be released halfway through their sentence to instead be released at the 40% point, has been generating official data since September 2024. The Independent Sentencing Review's final report, published in May 2025, concluded that SDS40 and related measures "cannot resolve the capacity crisis" in the prison system. A government-published Independent Review of Prison Capacity report noted that the then Lord Chancellor had to introduce an early release scheme under different legal powers than earlier schemes to avoid system collapse. Gov.uk Gov.uk Gov.uk

The broader context here is one of tension between prison space and public trust. The prison system has been under pressure for years, with emergency releases, law changes made by ministers without a full parliamentary vote, and new legislation all stacked on top of one another without fixing the underlying problem of too few prison places. The Independent Sentencing Review's finding that earlier measures "cannot resolve the capacity crisis" has been reinforced by the fact that the Sentencing Act went even further, moving the release point for serious offenders to the halfway mark. Burnham's review, by his own acknowledgment, cannot fully reverse the policy. What is unclear is whether the review will create exemptions for serious offenders, domestic abuse perpetrators, or terrorists, groups the original law left out.

The political stakes cut in two directions. Lammy's argument that the system was weeks from gridlock carries the weight of operational reality, meaning prisons were physically running out of room. The counterargument from Waxman, Jacobs, Phillips, and crossbench MPs carries the weight of victim safety and public confidence. Burnham, who identified a decade of underinvestment as the root cause, must now steer between these positions with a scheme that is already law and scheduled to take effect within weeks. The Sentencing Bill 2025, which introduces a new system for sending released prisoners back to custody for longer than the current 14 or 28 days, adds another layer of complexity that any review will need to account for. Gov.uk

Burnham's announcement does not pause the September timeline. It commits to a review with an undecided scope and outcome, led by a justice secretary who took office as part of the same government reshuffle that elevated Burnham to the premiership. Whether that review produces real changes before the scheme launches, or becomes an adjustment after it is already running, will depend on how quickly Norris can reconcile the competing pressures within his own party and across Parliament.