Tories: Early release scheme an ‘insult to victims’ as prisoners set to be freed

The Conservative Party said the Government is putting the public at risk as it prepares to release hundreds of prisoners on Thursday.

Shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy said the public would “pay the price” for the decision, which ministers have said is necessary to create capacity in jails.

The former adviser to Theresa May during her time as prime minister said the policy was an “insult to victims”.

It came as the Victims Commissioner warned the early release scheme may not be workable as it comes into force on Thursday. Claire Waxman said the Government’s confidence “is not yet matched by the reality on the ground”.

Around 700 prisoners will walk free from jail in the first wave of the controversially expanded programme to free up spaces in prisons.

It is the latest in a series of early release schemes, including under the Conservative government and Sir Keir Starmer.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said offenders would be monitored under the “toughest supervision in British history”.

However, Mr Timothy said: “Today’s releases are an insult to victims, a danger to the public, and will only encourage more lawbreaking from criminals who know they have a ticket out of prison.

“Labour say they have no choice but to release prisoners early, but we know they don’t believe in prison. It is their decision to release vile criminals including abusers, historic child sex offenders and human traffickers – but it is the public who will pay the price.

Ahead of the releases Ms Waxman said the coming weeks would show whether the safeguards work.

There have been concerns over whether the restraints on criminals would be effective, despite reassurances from ministers.

This includes “restriction zones” which will confine the movements of high-risk sexual and violent offenders within a set area.

It comes alongside the “biggest-ever” expansion of electronic monitoring, and a ban for offenders from pubs, clubs and public events.

However, Natalie Queiroz, who along with her then-unborn child, survived an nine-minute knife attack by her former partner in 2016, said victims were still unclear on how successful restriction zones would be.

Her attacker, Babur Raja, who was jailed for 18 years for attempted murder, is due to come up for parole in 2028.

The professional body for probation officers said the releases would create more work for an under-staffed probation service already under strain.

Ms Waxman said: “Victims and the public have been repeatedly assured that robust safeguards are in place and that those released will face the toughest supervision ever imposed on offenders in the community. Those are significant claims.

“As Victims’ Commissioner, my concern is that the confidence being projected by government is not yet matched by the reality on the ground.

“Bold assertions in press releases are no substitute for effective planning, robust preparation and consistent delivery. All three have been in short supply.”

The plan to free up capacity in the overcrowded male prison estate comes as figures show the number of people behind bars has jumped by more than 1,700 in the past three months.

Some 5,000 prisoners are scheduled to be released in stages over the next year, down from 6,000, after ministers intervened to exempt rapists and the most serious child sex offenders.

Under a separate process introduced by the previous Conservative government, 13,325 prisoners in England and Wales were freed early between October 17 2023 and September 9 2024.

The prison population of England and Wales stood at 87,499 on Monday, according to weekly data published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

This is up from 85,761 on June 29 – a rise of 1,738, or 2%.

Ministers say the expanded early release scheme is needed to prevent the justice system from collapsing, after a summer when the issue dominated news headlines.

Criminals will be excluded from the scheme if they have been jailed for a range of offences, including members of child grooming gangs convicted of indecent assault.

Prisoners guilty of manslaughter will also be excluded, meaning the killers of Pc Andrew Harper, who died in the line of duty in 2019, will not be eligible.

Ms Queiroz, who is now victims’ advocate for the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, said the restriction zones risked giving victims a “false sense of security”.

She told the Press Association: “Restriction zones have the potential to be a powerful protective measure for victims.

“However, unfortunately they are still not in a place to give victims the security and protection we would hope for. We must not give victims a false sense of security.

“We need restriction zones to be a substantial distance from the victim, to be in place for guaranteed extended periods of time to allow victims to live with the freedom they deserve, and real-time monitoring and obligatory tagging of offenders.”

Ben Cockburn, national chairman of Napo (National Association of Probation Officers) said his membership was already under strain, with workers balloting for industrial action in October.

Mr Cockburn said: “There seems to be absolute denial in the leadership of (His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service) as to just how bad a state the probation service is in.

“We have massive staff shortages, unsustainable and dangerously high workloads and this week we will hear again that electronic monitoring is failing to deliver.

Ms Waxman said: “Electronic monitoring, restriction zones and licence conditions can only protect victims if they are properly implemented, monitored and enforced.

“Unless the probation service is properly resourced and set up to succeed, those safeguards risk becoming little more than window dressing in a press release.”

Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Alex Norris said: “Today we are introducing the toughest-ever range of tools to control prison leavers and better protect the public.

“We understand the anxiety victims face ahead of offenders’ release dates, but the greatest danger to victims would be prisons running out of cells for dangerous criminals which was the crisis this government inherited.

“Our plan will make sure this never happens again by building 14,000 prison places while subjecting offenders to the toughest-ever controls – leaving them nowhere to hide and under no doubt that we are watching them.”

Published: 01/10/2026 by Radio NewsHub