Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Violent Offenders: Early Release

Tuesday 3 June 2025 · 6 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 6 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Lord Chancellor states that the criminal justice system risks collapse without reform, and early release is not prioritizing violent offenders over victims.
  • Minister offers to look into a specific case raised by Esther McVey under Helen's law regarding the disclosure of victim remains by murderers.
  • Minister emphasizes the importance of victim personal statements and ensuring victims' voices are heard, following a meeting with Justice for Victims campaign group.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Joy Morrissey Con Beaconsfield
Justice & Courts
Context

MP Joy Morrissey addresses concerns about the early release of violent offenders, citing risks to victim safety.

Question

The Victims’ Commissioner says that the early release of prisoners risks victim safety, so will the Lord Chancellor explain why she is putting violent offenders ahead of victims?

Answer from The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Alex Davies-Jones)

That is not the case. What would be failing victims is if our criminal justice system got to the point of collapse and we did not have prison places for violent offenders. This Government are getting on with reforming our criminal justice system. We are putting victims at the heart of it to protect them, and are making sure that we never run out of prison places again.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not directly address why early release policies may seem prioritising offenders over victims

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Q2 Esther McVey Con Tatton
Justice & Courts
Context

MP Esther McVey references a specific case where the murderer made a disclosure but no remains were found, highlighting loopholes in the Prisoners (Disclosure of Information about Victims) Act 2020.

Question

The Prisoners (Disclosure of Information about Victims) Act 2020, otherwise known as Helen’s law, should prevent the early release of murderers who do not disclose the location of their victims’ remains. However, there are loopholes in the law in cases where the murderer makes a disclosure but no remains are found, as happened in the case of Jean Taylor’s daughter, Chantel. Will the Minister meet me and Jean Taylor, who founded the charity Families Fighting for Justice, to close those loopholes?

Answer from The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Alex Davies-Jones)

I thank the right hon. Member for her question. All my sympathies go to her constituent. If she wants to write to me with the details, I will definitely look into the case and come back to her.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not commit to a direct meeting but offered to review the case upon receipt of more information

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Q3 Andy Slaughter Lab Hammersmith and Chiswick
Justice & Courts
Context

MP Andy Slaughter raises concerns about the progression model of sentencing recommended by the independent sentencing review, which may lead to less clarity for victims about when perpetrators leave prison.

Question

The previous Government released prisoners in an indiscriminate way. This Government have developed a more organised approach, but the progression model of sentencing, recommended by the independent sentencing review and welcomed by the Government, could mean less clarity for victims about when perpetrators leave prison. Given the concern expressed by victims’ groups, what safeguards and resources will the Minister put in place to prepare victims and assure them of their safety?

Answer from The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Alex Davies-Jones)

I thank the Chair of the Justice Committee for that important question. It is vital that victims be notified. That is why we are boosting probation and ensuring that victim liaison officers have that vital information. He will be aware that in our Victims and Courts Bill, which has been presented to this House, we are introducing a new victim notification scheme, and a dedicated helpline to ensure that victims get the vital information that they so desperately need.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not address specific concerns about clarity for victims but highlighted initiatives in Victims and Courts Bill

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Q4 Matt Bishop Lab Forest of Dean
Justice & Courts
Context

MP Matt Bishop discusses the challenges faced by victims' families in making their victim impact statements and the need for autonomy.

Question

In March, I met people from the Justice for Victims campaign group. One family told me that their young daughter was killed by an unlicensed, uninsured driver. They were asked to alter their victim impact statement several times to avoid offending the defendant and were denied the chance to fully express their grief. That experience is shared by many others. Will the Justice Secretary take steps to ensure that victims’ families have full autonomy over their statements, so that they can express their experiences freely in court?

Answer from The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Alex Davies-Jones)

I thank my hon. Friend for that question. I also had the privilege of meeting those families in March, and I heard their concerns. I know personally how important victim personal statements are to ensuring that victims’ and families’ voices are heard. I do not want there to be any circumstances in which they feel unable to make a statement. However, these statements are considered evidence, and the rules of admissibility apply, as they do to all witness statements.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not commit to changes for full autonomy but acknowledged importance of victim impact statements

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Q5 Robert Jenrick Reform Newark
Justice & Courts
Context

MP Robert Jenrick raises concerns about the early release of certain offenders, questioning if the choices are making the public safer.

Question

Can I first say how sorry I was to hear that the Minister was the subject of intimidation and an attack on her office? I think all of us across the House would like to wish her and her staff well, and to say how pleased we are that the vile individuals behind this have been caught and punished. In September, the Justice Secretary designed an early release scheme for prisoners. She let out Lawson Natty, who supplied the machete used to kill a 14-year-old, and Adam Andrews, who shook a baby so violently that he was left blind and paralysed. She is now halving prison sentences for killers and rapists, while Lucy Connolly remains behind bars for a reprehensible but swiftly deleted tweet. Does the Justice Secretary really believe that her choices are making the public safer?

Answer from The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Alex Davies-Jones)

This Government are making choices to keep this country safer, and are cleaning up the mess left after the previous Government led our criminal justice system to rack and ruin. They left this Government to make the difficult decisions, when we came into office, that were necessary to prevent the total collapse of our criminal justice system.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not address specific concerns about safety but highlighted actions taken by the current government compared to previous one

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Q6 Josh Babarinde Lib Dem Eastbourne
Justice & Courts
Context

MP Josh Babarinde highlights the previous government's refusal to exempt domestic abusers from their early release scheme and asks for a commitment regarding future identifiers.

Question

Between October 2023 and June 2024, the last Conservative Government released 10,083 offenders under their early release scheme, and refused to exempt domestic abusers from early release, to the horror of survivors and victims charities. The Government have made no such exclusion from their early release scheme so far, but they have the chance to put that right via the new domestic abuse identifier that they are introducing after lots of campaigning by the Liberal Democrats and others. Will the Minister today give survivors and victims charities a commitment that as soon as the identifier comes into force, it will be used to exempt domestic abusers from early release, in the way that the last Government failed to?

Answer from The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Alex Davies-Jones)

I thank the hon. Member for pointing out the failures of the previous Government, and their refusal to exempt domestic abusers and offenders who have committed violence against women and girls from their early release scheme; this Government ensured that measures were in place to ensure that victims were kept safe.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not provide a direct commitment but highlighted the previous government's failure

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