'The right decision' – Rotherham welcomes government pause on early prisoner release

MPs, councillors, and community leaders from across the borough, including Rotherham whistleblower Jayne Senior MBE, have welcomed the decision by the government to pause the early prisoner release scheme.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced last week no prisoners will be let out early until a review of the scheme was carried out.

As preparations were underway for the planned early release launch in September – part of proposals under the Government’s Sentencing Act 2026 – some victims of crime received letters informing them that some offenders could be freed earlier than expected.

Rotherham grooming gang victims Sammy Woodhouse and Sarah Wilson were among those contacted.

Jayne Senior MBE, the whistleblower who exposed the Rotherham CSE scandal described the pause in the planned scheme as the “right decision.”

Ms Senior, who is the manager and chief executive of the Swinton Lock Activity Centre in Rotherham, told the Advertiser: “It is the right decision and, I hope, reflects the concerns that have been raised by victims, survivors, campaigners, and many others across the country.

“My hope is that this pause will allow the government to properly consider the devastating impact such proposals could have on those who have already suffered unimaginable abuse.

“For over 30 years, I have worked alongside children who were raped, trafficked, tortured and systematically abused.

“As the whistleblower who exposed the failures surrounding child sexual exploitation in Rotherham, I witnessed firsthand what happens when systems fail to put victims first.

“Every discussion about prison capacity seems to focus on numbers, budgets, and overcrowding.

“Yet there is one group whose voices are too often in danger of being forgotten the victims and survivors.

“For many survivors of child sexual exploitation, justice was never guaranteed.

“They were ignored when they were children - many were labelled as troublesome rather than traumatised.

“Some waited years before they found the courage to tell anyone what had happened to them.

“Even then, they faced years of police investigations, interviews and court proceedings.

“They were forced to relive the darkest moments of their childhood so that those responsible could finally be brought before the courts.

“For some, receiving a conviction was the first time they truly felt believed.

“The possibility that those responsible for the most serious crimes could spend less time in prison than expected caused understandable fear and anxiety among many survivors.

“Imagine walking through your local town centre and suddenly seeing the man who destroyed your childhood.

“Imagine taking your own children shopping and seeing your abuser standing just a few feet away.

“Imagine wondering whether your family is safe, whether he knows where you live, and whether anyone considered the impact on you before making decisions about his release.

“This is not about politics.

“This is about trauma.

“This is about the lifelong consequences of abuse.

“This is about victims and survivors who have already carried the burden of other people's crimes for decades.

“Every decision surrounding the release of serious offenders should begin with one question

“What will this mean for the victim or survivor?

“Sadly, that question has too often been overlooked.

“Rotherham became a symbol of institutional failure because too many professionals failed to listen to children.

“We promised those victims and survivors that lessons had been learned and that future decisions would put them first.

“This pause provides an opportunity to demonstrate that those promises were genuine.

“The government now has the chance to engage meaningfully with victims and survivors before making any future decisions.

“Their voices, their experiences and their safety must be central to any reform of the prison system.

“We must never forget that while an offender may eventually leave prison, victims and survivors live with the consequences of those crimes every single day.

“For many, their sentence is lifelong.”

Rotherham MP Sarah Champion said: “I’m pleased and relieved that the Prime Minister has paused early release of prisoners.

“The government should now go back to the drawing board and ensure that perpetrators of the worst crimes are not able to benefit from a lack of capacity in our prison system. “There needs to be the same exemptions on sex offenders, child abusers, violent offenders and those guilty of domestic abuse as were in place previously. “The potential early release of perpetrators of child sexual abuse in Rotherham is shocking. “These vile criminals ruined countless lives.

“The very least their victims should be able to expect is justice, and that the time abusers spend behind bars is some reflection of seriousness of their crimes. “Victims and survivors need to be at the heart of this early release scheme review. What protections will be put in place for them?

“Are the resources in place?

“Do the police, probation, and victim's services have the capacity and capability to manage offenders? “Ultimately, this is about public safety.

“Without consistent rehabilitation schemes in prisons, how are victims and survivors, and indeed the public, meant to feel secure if these abusive prisoners are released early?”

Michael Bennett-Sylvester Independent Councillor for Dalton, East Herringthorpe and Thrybergh said: “I welcome the announcement there will be a halt to the early release programme.

“Over the past five years, I’ve met and come to know many survivors through council casework whose ongoing trauma has continued to impact their lives.

“I’ve put in cases where there have been successful prosecutions of their abusers but theirs, and even their children’s lives, are impacted and limited, and I just can’t see any justification for early release of offenders when the women who come to me are unable to move from surviving due to their trauma.”

Rother Valley MP Jake Richards – who is also a Justice Minister – said: “What we're going to be doing is over the next few days and weeks we'll be setting out how we are going to be implementing the Sentencing Act measures.

“But we'll be keeping under review constantly, because any vigilant government would, of course, keep under review the numbers of people who are going into prison, the number of people who are going out of prison, who those people are, how we're keeping the public safe, making sure that we're building more prison places – which is what this Labour government is doing, building prisons at a scale that we haven't seen since the Victorian era – and maintaining a functioning law and order system.

“That's the priority for this Prime Minister, it's the priority for this new Justice Secretary, and I'm delighted to be helping them with it.”