Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Prisoner Early Release: Earned Progression

Tuesday 16 December 2025 · 2 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 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Government inherited a prison system on the brink of collapse
  • Worst offenders will be kept behind bars to protect victims
  • Sentencing Bill aims to address issues related to prison system

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 John Hayes Con South Holland and The Deepings
Crime & Law Enforcement Justice & Courts
Context

Following changes in the Sentencing Bill, concerns have been raised about early release eligibility for certain types of offenders.

Question

The salient difference between the Government and the people is that the public expect vile, vicious, violent people to be locked up, so that they can ruin no more lives, whereas the Government want to let them free. About two thirds of rapists and 83% of child sex offenders will be eligible for early release. Is it any wonder that the Domestic Abuse Commissioner and the Victims’ Commissioner have criticised these plans? Will the Government at least exclude those kinds of offenders before implementing this policy? Otherwise, they will wreak harm, hurt and hate on every part of our country.

Answer from The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Jake Richards)

I remind him that we inherited a prison system on the brink of collapse. The worst way to fail victims would be to have no prison places, and to be unable to keep the worst offenders behind bars, and we will not allow that to happen. I remind him again that the Sentencing Bill is informed by the independent sentencing review, led by a former Conservative Lord Chancellor, who offered sensible reforms to ensure that our prison system can cope with demands and is fit for the future. Finally, I remind him that this is not a case of being soft on crime; by the end of this Parliament, under this Labour Government, there will be more criminals behind bars than ever before.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Exclusion of rapists and child sex offenders from early release eligibility

How: Reminding The Questioner About Inherited Prison System

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Q2 Kieran Mullan Con Bexhill and Battle
Crime & Law Enforcement Justice & Courts
Context

The Government pledged action on violence against women and girls, but concerns have been raised about early release eligibility for certain types of offenders.

Question

This week, the Government pledged action on violence against women and girls—an issue that I know many Members across this House care deeply about, including many Labour Members—but this so-called earned progression model will see thousands of rapists, child groomers and paedophiles let out of prison earlier. Shockingly, last week a Government Minister said that the reason why they could not be excluded from the model was that it would increase the risk of inaccuracies in release calculations. Does the Minister think that a single victim of rape should expect the offender to be let out of prison earlier because the Government cannot calculate the release date properly?

Answer from The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Jake Richards)

We will not take any lessons about violence against women and girls from the Conservatives. Prosecutions for rape went down under the last Conservative Government, but we are taking action to protect women and girls. I will repeat this point: the scenario we faced last summer was that when those who committed the worst offences were convicted, there was not space in prison to keep them behind bars. That is wholly unacceptable, and this Government will never let that happen again.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Effect of inaccurate release calculations on victims of rape

How: Repeating Points About Inherited Prison System

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