Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to help protect victims of domestic abuse and violence who are affected by the early release of some prisoners.

Due to acute prison capacity pressure, the Government has had no option but to introduce a change that will allow prisoners serving an eligible standard determinate sentence (SDS) to be released after serving 40% rather than 50% of that sentence in custody.

Victims and survivors can be assured that probation will continue business as usual processes to build appropriate risk management plans to support the safe release of prisoners. We also have important safeguards in place for the early release scheme and have made sure that changes won’t apply to offences that can occur most frequently in the context of domestic abuse including stalking, coercive or controlling behaviour, and non-fatal strangulation.

Victims and survivors who are eligible for and have opted into the Victim Contact Scheme or the Victim Notification Scheme continue to get information and updates about developments on their case. We have been working closely with the victim support sector so that frontline services have the information they need to support victims and survivors that may be impacted.

All offenders released will be subject to robust licence conditions and risk management plans, monitored by the probation service. There are clear expectations in place for probation staff managing cases where there is evidence of domestic abuse. While on licence, offenders will be subject to conditions including those deemed necessary to protect the victim and wider public, such as exclusion zones, location monitoring, residence at a specified place or disclosing details of any new relationship. Offenders must comply with these conditions and attend supervision. If they fail to comply, they can be recalled to continue serving their sentence in prison.