Prisoners convicted of rape, grooming, and serious child sex offenses will be excluded from a forthcoming early release scheme in England and Wales, the government announced Monday.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham had previously paused the scheme, originally slated to begin in September, due to widespread backlash from victims and survivors, and concerns about unprecedented prison overcrowding. The scheme is now set to restart in October with the updated exclusions.

Burnham stated that while he wished to go further in excluding offenders, doing so would risk the collapse of the prison system and significantly increase public risk. The decision follows intense scrutiny, including public outcry from Lissie Harper, whose police officer husband Andrew Harper was killed in 2019. Harper's killers were potentially eligible for early release under the original scheme.

The government also committed an additional £10 million to frontline victim support services, including the establishment of a new national helpline. The changes aim to address public concerns while attempting to alleviate pressure on the prison system.

The Sentencing Act, amended in January, initially based early release eligibility on the length of a fixed sentence rather than the nature of the offense. While the act already excluded murderers serving life sentences and those on extended sentences, the new directive specifically adds rape and child sexual offenses to the exclusion list. The government indicated that legislative amendments might be made in the future to solidify these exclusions.

For offenders of other crimes serving sentences of four years or more, early release will now occur at the halfway point of their sentence, a change from the previous two-thirds mark. Those with less serious sentences may be released after serving one-third of their time, down from one-half.

These changes will be implemented in phases, starting with prisoners serving sentences under 575 days and eventually including inmates jailed for up to 12 years by June 2027. A key condition for early release will be the mandatory use of electronic tagging, alongside extended supervision periods and new restrictions such as exclusion zones.

Reactions from within the prison system highlighted the ongoing pressures. One prison officer described the facilities as "creaking at the seams" and warned that delaying releases could exacerbate overcrowding issues. A probation officer expressed skepticism, questioning whether the announced changes offered anything substantially new for managing individuals released earlier.