Overview
- The Sentencing Act 2026 reduces how long some offenders must serve before being eligible for release, with certain longer sentences now becoming eligible sooner to free space in an overcrowded prison system.
- The government has approved the changes but paused parts of the rollout, introduced targeted exemptions for the most serious sexual offences, and delayed the first tranche of releases from September to October.
- A Conservative analysis using Ministry of Justice data projects roughly 89,225 additional offences by mid-2029 if the scheme proceeds, with breakdowns including thefts, violent crimes, drug offences and weapon possessions.
- The Ministry of Justice called the Tory calculation speculative, defended the reforms as necessary to prevent a prisons collapse, and pointed to new spending on probation and community supervision as safeguards.
- Public and police anger over high-profile cases, notably two men convicted in PC Andrew Harper’s death, have driven petitions and legal threats and intensified debate over alternatives such as faster prison building, deporting foreign nationals, expanded tagging and tougher earned-progression rules.