Earlier this year, the Government announced changes to when some prisoners will be released because our prisons are dangerously overcrowded.
We need to be honest about how we got to this point. The blatant truth is that the government inherited prisons operating at close to 99 per cent capacity, with only 500 prison places added between 2010 and 2024. If prisons run out of cells, police cannot make arrests and courts cannot send dangerous criminals to jail. That would put the public at greater risk.
I want to be clear about what the government is doing to fix this mess. There are already plans in place for 14,000 new prison places, with 3,200 already delivered. A further £110 million is being brought forward to speed up the creation of prison places. This will take time.
This week, Justice Secretary Alex Norris confirmed in Parliament that many more serious offenders will be excluded from earlier release. Murderers, terrorists, those serving life or extended sentences and the most dangerous violent and sexual offenders were never included.
Now people convicted of rape, serious child sexual abuse and grooming offences will also be excluded. So will anyone convicted of an unlawful killing, including manslaughter, causing or allowing the death of a child, and causing death by dangerous or drink-driving. Historical indecent assault offences, which have been used to prosecute child sexual abuse, are excluded too.
This means the men responsible for the killing of PC Andrew Harper will not have their sentences cut, and hundreds more serious offenders will remain in prison for longer.
More space will also be freed by deporting more foreign offenders. The Government will also begin the careful work of ending the injustice of indefinite IPP sentences, under which some people remain locked up years after serving the minimum term set by a court.
The new release rules will apply only to eligible prisoners serving standard fixed sentences. They must serve at least a third of their term and longer if they behave badly. Leaving prison will not mean they are free to do as they please. Offenders can be tagged, placed under curfew, banned from pubs, clubs and football matches, and ordered to stay away from victims, and anyone who breaks the rules can be sent straight back to prison.
There will also be another £18.9 million for victim support, including a free helpline and specialist help for women and girls. Victims will have a say over the restrictions placed on offenders. An extra £700 million is being invested in probation and community services, with 1,300 more trainee probation officers being recruited.
This Government has listened and strengthened the scheme. Serious offenders will stay behind bars, victims will receive greater protection and public safety will come first.