Andy Burnham has announced he is pausing a scheme which would have seen thousands of prisoners in England and Wales eligible to be released early. The prime minister said the policy will not go ahead until an urgent review has been completed and steps have been taken to minimise risk to the public.
"No prisoners will be let out under this policy until we have conducted an urgent review and done everything we can to minimise risk to the public,"
In 2024, the Labour government announced emergency measures to release some prisoners early to ease overcrowding. Under the Sentencing Act, which was due to come into effect in September, some offenders would have been let out after serving a third of their sentence.
Those who previously have served two-thirds would instead be released after serving half of their sentence.
