Thousands of people in prison may now be released early this Autumn after the Sentencing Act 2026 passed into law on the 22nd January. The Act introduces wide-ranging reforms to the way sentences are served in England and Wales, whereby eligible prisoners serving standard determinate sentences (SDS) will be released after serving 33% of their sentence, rather than forty or fifty percent.
People serving SDS sentences of longer than four years for violent or sexual offences, who would currently be released at the 66 per cent point, will see their earliest release date brought forward to the 50% point.
No date has been fixed for the new system to take effect, but the Ministry of Justice said it would be “rolled out in the Autumn”.
The measure was recommended by the Independent Review of Sentencing as a way to reduce the prison population in the face of a capacity crisis. People serving life sentences, IPP (Imprisonment for Public Protection) or EDS (extended determinate sentences) will not benefit.
Pia Sinha, Chief Executive of the Prison Reform Trust, commented:
“The Sentencing Act contains important measures to reduce demand on our critically over-burdened prison system. Provision to increase the uptake of effective community alternatives should mean fewer people serving pointless short sentences, which have among the highest reoffending rates. Now the legislation has passed, it will be vital to ensure that probation is properly resourced and supported to handle the additional caseload.”
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