Highlights
- Review follows warnings that exemptions did not cover some historical child sex offenders
- Government says work is under way to ensure grooming cases are treated according to victims’ needs
- Tory leader Kemi Badenoch accused the government of a “betrayal of victims”
PRIME MINISTER Andy Burnham has ordered an urgent review to identify whether any child sexual abusers could be released early under the government’s prison release scheme after concerns were raised over a legal loophole.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has been asked to carry out an “in-depth review of cases” to ensure grooming-related offences are identified, Downing Street said on Thursday (6).
“This work is happening urgently,” Burnham’s spokesperson said. “This is extremely important to the prime minister and he has personally intervened to ensure everything possible is being done so that vile groomers are dealt with in the way their victims deserve.”
The review follows warnings that some offenders convicted of historical child sexual abuse could qualify for early release because their crimes were recorded under older laws.
The government announced this week that people convicted of rape, serious child sexual offences and grooming offences would be excluded from the early release scheme. However, offences such as indecent assault under the Sexual Offences Act 1956 were not included in the exemption list.
Some historical child abuse cases, including those linked to grooming gangs, were prosecuted under these older offences because the current legal categories did not exist at the time.
Five men convicted in a historical abuse case in Bradford are among those whose offences were not covered by the exclusions. They were jailed in October 2025 after being convicted of indecent assault for abusing a teenage girl in the early 2000s.
The government has not confirmed whether the review will result in all such offenders being prevented from early release, but officials said the aim was to identify cases that should be considered.
'Government forced into another review'
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the government had been forced into “another review” after she raised concerns.
“I wrote to Andy Burnham last night warning that his policy was going to let rape gangs perpetrators out of prison early,” she said. “In response, the prime minister has commissioned yet another review.”
She added: “How many more reviews do we need before Andy Burnham does the common sense thing and bans all of these monsters from early release?”
Badenoch had earlier written to Burnham warning that offenders convicted of sexually assaulting children could still be eligible for release because indecent assault was not among the excluded offences.
She described this as a “betrayal of victims” and called for the government to publish the full list of offences that would remain eligible for early release.
Burnham launched a review of the early release scheme after becoming prime minister and later announced changes to reduce the number of offenders eligible for release. The government plans to release around 5,000 prisoners in England and Wales early to ease pressure on overcrowded jails.
Under the revised scheme, some prisoners who are not excluded could be released after serving one-third of their sentence rather than 40 per cent or 50 per cent.
Burnham has said expanding exemptions further was not possible without putting additional pressure on prisons.
The prison population in England and Wales stood at 86,495 on August 3, around 97 per cent of available capacity.
Victims’ groups have criticised the uncertainty caused by the scheme. Claire Waxman, the victims’ commissioner, said survivors had been left facing “weeks of stress and uncertainty”.
She said many victims had been “re-traumatised by really poor communication” and had received little clarity about how the changes could affect them.
