Prime Minister Andy Burnham has ordered an urgent review to identify any grooming-gang offenders who might qualify for release under the government’s early release scheme.
The move follows concerns raised by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch that some child sex offenders could leave custody well before completing their full sentences. Badenoch pointed out that indecent assault was not listed among the offences the government has said would be excluded from early release, and warned that many historical child-abuse cases were charged under that offence.
Burnham’s office said he had asked the Ministry of Justice to “conduct an in-depth review of cases to ensure that grooming cases were identified” and that “this work is happening urgently.” A spokesperson added that the prime minister had personally intervened to make sure grooming offenders are handled appropriately.
At this stage the review is understood to be focused on identifying prisoners who might be eligible for early release; the government has not said whether it will prevent any specific releases.
Badenoch described the intervention as “another U-turn” and said her letter prompted the review. She urged the prime minister to publish the full list of offences that remain eligible for early release, calling it a “betrayal of victims” if certain historical child-sex offences remain outside the exclusions.
Under changes announced by Burnham, people convicted of rape, serious child sexual offences and some grooming offences will be barred from early release from October. However, a number of other offenders will remain eligible and could be released after serving a third of their custodial sentences, rather than the 40% or 50% thresholds that previously applied.
The government says around 5,000 prisoners in England and Wales are planned to be released early in order to relieve overcrowded prisons. Burnham has said he would have liked to exempt more offenders but that doing so without adding prison capacity would risk the prison system collapsing and put the public “at much greater risk.” On 3 August the prison population was 86,495, about 97% of usable capacity.
Concerns about the scope of the exclusions focus partly on legacy offences charged under older law. Sections 14 and 15 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956 — under which some historical indecent assault convictions were secured — were not named in the government’s exclusion list, suggesting those convicted under those provisions could be eligible for early release.
Examples cited in public reporting include five men jailed in October 2005 after convictions for indecent assault in a historical Bradford grooming case, who could fall within the early-release scheme. Other recent cases of indecent assault against children include Ajaz Karim, jailed in December 2024 for 21 months for abusing a 13-year-old, and Shahid Hussain, jailed in September 2024 for eight years for offending against a 14-year-old in Rotherham in 2003.
The government has not yet confirmed which individuals will actually be released. Families of victims have expressed distress that some convicted offenders remain eligible: the mother of PC Andrew Harper said she was “devastated” to learn two men jailed after her son’s killing in 2019 could still be included in the scheme. The Harper family received a letter from the Ministry of Justice indicating the two offenders might be covered.
Justice Secretary Alex Norris has apologised to families affected by the early release policy, saying they were “carrying the can from previous failures.” He said the releases will be phased in across 10 batches from October, with about 5,000 extra releases overall — down from about 6,000 in earlier plans. The rollout will begin with prisoners serving sentences under 575 days and extend so that, by June 2027, prisoners serving 12 years or more may be eligible for early release. The exact numbers released at each stage will depend on how the prison population changes before implementation.
