Prisons ‘one major event from disaster’ after U-turn on early release scheme

Critics say the move, which will keep PC Harper’s killers in jail, leaves number of prison spaces ‘too close to the bone’

PC Andrew Harper’s killers will remain behind bars after a critical intervention by Andy Burnham , but the move has led to warnings that overcrowded prisons will be left “one major event away from disaster”.

Announcing a U-turn on the early release scheme after weeks of intense pressure, Burnham said he understood “how strongly people feel about this issue”.

The prime minister’s intervention will prevent the early release of offenders guilty of all forms of manslaughter, as well as rapists, child sexual abusers and groomers.

The decision, which affects about 1,400 prisoners, was welcomed by police, victims’ groups and families, including qualified support from Harper’s mother, Debbie Adlam.

But critics said the change could undermine progressive prison reforms in England and Wales. They said the steps Burnham outlined to free up space would take longer to bring into force, putting the orderly management of prisons at risk.

Harper was 28 when he sustained fatal injuries while responding to a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire in August 2019. Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, who were passengers in the vehicle and both 17 at the time, were sentenced to 13 years in custody for manslaughter.

Speaking to the BBC, which first reported the government U-turn on Sunday, Burnham said he had “heard” Harper’s family.

“I heard, obviously, what Andrew Harper’s family were saying,” he said. “I mean, who couldn’t? Nobody would want a position to arise where those guilty of killing a police officer are let out early from prison.”

Adlam said she was glad and grateful for the change in the new law but felt “a mixed bag of emotions” and campaigning for the change had been traumatic.

“On the one hand we are glad, but we’ve been [put] through the mill and we are only back at where we were to start with,” she told BBC Breakfast. “We’re not making any headway or anything, we are just literally fighting to get back to where we were.”

Harper’s force, Thames Valley police, said the news would be “welcomed by many across policing and our communities”.

Jason Hogg, the chief constable of the force, said : “Today is not about politics. It is about remembering Andrew, recognising the profound impact his death continues to have on those who knew him, the communities he protected and those who serve in policing today.”

Burnham’s 11th-hour intervention will limit the number of places that can be freed up in the prison estate, which ministers have repeatedly warned is on the brink of collapse.

Before the early prison release scheme that had been due to start this week, the prime minister said spaces would be made available by deporting foreign prisoners and releasing some inmates serving indefinite sentences.

But critics warned neither measure would free up sufficient space in a system that is operating at 98% capacity in England and Wales.

Up to 6,000 prisoners were due to have their sentences cut short under the new law, but government figures suggest the number will now be about 4,600. With the first batch of prisoners due to be released early in October, prison governor representatives said staff would be put under intense pressure.

“The truth is I wanted to go even further,” said Burnham. “But I’ve pushed the system to the very limits of what’s possible without risking the prison system collapsing within months, putting the public at enormous risk.”

Nicole Jacobs, the domestic abuse commissioner for England and Wales, said Sunday’s announcement would not bring reassurance to domestic abuse victims.

“Victims and survivors will still be forced to take measures to protect themselves from dangerous abusers because the government and our criminal justice system cannot,” she said.

Sources accused the prime minister of making a “politically easy decision” and warned that multiple governments had failed to deport foreign convicts. Burnham admitted the number that could be returned was in the “hundreds”.

The prime minister’s pledge to “end the injustice” of indefinite jail terms (IPPs) in this parliament was hailed as “a day that thousands of families have spent years fighting for”.

But prison experts said it would be complicated, take time and would be unlikely to free up many places in the short term. IPPs were abolished more than a decade ago but still keep more than 2,000 people in England and Wales behind bars.

“The decision to release people on IPPs is extremely welcome, but the government must now deliver it,” said Andrea Coomber, the chief executive of the Howard League, a penal reform charity.

She said Sunday’s announcement left the prison estate “one major incident away from a disaster”.

“All it will take is something like a serious riot or public disturbance and any capacity will be gone,” she added. “It is just too close to the bone and the government will be left with very little room to manoeuvre.”

She said the move threatened to undermine changes to the Sentencing Act, which were brought forward after a review led by David Gauke, a former justice secretary , and were designed to improve rehabilitation rates as well as freeing up spaces for people coming into the system.

“The Sentencing Act changes were based on deep work over a year from the independent sentencing review, the government and civil servants, with parliamentary scrutiny of the legislation,” said Coomber. “Today’s announcement has undone some of that work.”

Pia Sinha, the chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, said the government should address the number of people on remand awaiting trial, which account for 18% of those in prison .

“If prisons are full they become warehouses – you can’t deliver interventions, self-harm goes up and rehabilitation goes down,” she said.

“The Gauke reforms were not a magic bullet, but they were brave and they were an investment in the future. That progress must not be lost.”

Nick Timothy, the shadow justice secretary, accused Labour of avoiding parliamentary scrutiny of the changes. “The government must delay the scheme, bring forward emergency primary legislation and exclude the worst offenders properly,” he said.