Early Release Scheme Starts

Posted 1st October 2026

Today marks the restarting of the Early Release Scheme, where certain offenders are due for release under the Progression Model of the Sentencing Act 2026. This will see people with determinate sentences set for early release, with some only having served a third of their sentence. But with Restriction Zones also being added to probation tools, what does this mean? And what does this mean for survivors of sexual violence?

The Journey So Far

The scheme, first set out under former PM Kier Starmer, has been subject to many changes as the government tried to deal with lack of space to house the burgeoning prison population.

Recent changes have included those convicted of rape, serious child sexual offences and grooming being excluded from the scheme. These changes have followed pressure from campaigners, national commissioners and the women’s sector. More recently those convicted of manslaughter will now also not be eligible, following a petition amassing over 1million signatures.

Who is eligible for early release?

To be eligible for early release, offenders must be serving a standard determinate sentence. This is a fixed-term prison sentence with a definite end date. Their sentence must also not be for an offence excluded from the scheme. A full list of excluded offences can be found here.

Those offenders open to the scheme may see their sentence proportionally reduced. Where offenders were previously told they must serve 66% of their sentence in prison, this will be reduced to 50%. Those told they must serve 50% in prison, will now serve 33%.

Offenders subject to parole boards, life sentences, extended determinate sentences or under imprisonment for public protection will not be eligible for early release.

What safeguards will be in place?

As part of the scheme, offenders will be subject to more intensive supervision in the community, which will include regular appointments, risk assessments, monitoring of licence conditions and the assumption that all offenders are electronically tagged.

All victim-survivors registered with the Victim Contact Scheme (VCS) will be contacted if their offender is subject to early release. This will give survivors an opportunity to have a say in what their supervision conditions should be.

Efforts will be made to contact all survivors not registered with the VCS. Those who previously opted out of the Victim Contact Scheme can opt in during an offender’s sentence by contacting VCSenquiries@justice.gov.uk

After this period of intense supervision, it will then be followed by a period on licence in the community. You can read more about this here.

Concerns about the scheme

The Victims Commissioner and the Domestic Abuse Commissioner and various organisations have raised concerns about the scheme, which has resulted in changes to excluded offences. However, this can be a nuanced area. Rape Crisis England and Wales CEO, Ciara Bergman, highlights issues where dangerous sexual violence offenders could be released because the more serious charges against them were dropped. There is also concern that where sexual violence has been prosecuted as domestic abuse offences, offenders may also be released early. You can read the whole statement here.

The government says that offenders can be recalled to prison if they can not be safely managed in the community. However, we are concerned that the effect of a breach deemed ‘non-serious’ by probation can still have a significant effect on survivors, particularly those who have experienced domestic abuse and sexual violence. The effectiveness of the scheme and how it will respond to incidents like these is yet to be tested.

Extra supervision for rapists

One piece of good news is that, while not eligible for the scheme, convicted rapists will be subjected to higher standard of supervision upon release.

Some violent offenders, will also be given Restriction Zones rather than Exclusion Zones. A Restriction Zone requires an offender on probation to remain within a set area instead of excluding them from a set area (an Exclusion Zone). Restriction Zones require a map to enforce, which will set out the area the offender on probation cannot leave.  In most cases, this map will be shared with the victim. The differences between the two and the impact on the survivor are:

Restriction Zones – tells the offender where they are allowed – eg within 10 miles of their house. This means that the survivor is able to carry on with their ‘normal’ life knowing that their perpetrator will not be in spaces they frequent.
Exclusion Zones – tells the offender where they are not allowed – eg within 10 miles of their victim’s house. This means that the offender has ability to move as they want, except in the excluded area. This potentially heightens the chance of a survivor seeing their perpetrator during day-to-day life away from their home or excluded area.

There are several considerations on whether a Restriction Zone will be enforced. These include things like; whether the offender is deemed high-risk; if the offence is Victim Contact Scheme Eligible; and whether other licence conditions will be felt insufficient. This might happen where there are multiple victims in different areas or the offender has made threats against the survivor or their family.

Offenders of the following offences (including attempted and conspiring to commit) will be considered for the Restriction Zones:

Violent and sexual offences:

Murder
Manslaughter
Rape
Rape of a child
Sexual assault

Offences with known links to DA-related offending:

Controlling or coercive behaviour
Stalking involving fear of violence or serious alarm or distress
Wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm
Attempting to choke, suffocate or strangle in order to commit or assist in committing an indictable offence

Due to the extreme limit on perpetrator movement, Restriction Zones will later be changed to Exclusion Zones, in line with risk assessments.

Support for Victims-Survivors

There are a range of measures in place to support victim-survivors and to enable them to have a say where the scheme affects them. All victim-survivors registered with the Victim Contact Scheme (VCS) will be contacted if their offender is subject to early release.

A support line has been set up. Run by Victim Support, this will provide advice and support to survivors and where to get further information from (eg probation and criminal justice services) and how to feed into probation decisions.

Telephone: 0808 168 9280
Website: https://victimsupport.org.uk/offender-release-helpline

The government has also offered surge funding to support local survivor-focussed helplines and services, including ours at Notts SVSS.

Other national helplines that can provide support include: