Burnham Halts 6,000-a-Month Prison Release Scheme for Urgent Review
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 23
Burnham Halts 6,000-a-Month Prison Release Scheme for Urgent Review
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 23
Summary
6,000 prisoners a month due for early release from September will stay in custody for now after Prime Minister Andy Burnham paused Labour’s overcrowding plan pending an urgent review.
The scheme had been designed to ease pressure on prisons in England and Wales, but Burnham’s intervention leaves a system already struggling with overcrowding facing fresh uncertainty.
No 10 and the Ministry of Justice have not said when the policy could restart, raising the prospect of disruption well beyond the planned 2 September rollout.
The pause extends a backlash that intensified after concerns over the possible early release of PC Andrew Harper’s killers, turning prison policy into one of Burnham’s first major tests in office.