Exclusive:Andy Burnham tells victims he wanted to 'go further' on prison release scheme

The Government has announced that rapists, child sex offenders and some grooming gang perpetrators will be exempt from the early release scheme, designed to tackle overcrowding in jails.

Andy Burnham has told victims he wanted to go “even further” in stopping serious criminals from getting an early release, however the prison would have collapsed “within months”, The Yorkshire Post can reveal.

The Government has announced that rapists, child sex offenders and some grooming gang perpetrators will be exempt from the early release scheme, designed to tackle overcrowding in jails.

Some 5,000 people are expected to be released early under sentencing changes, down from 6,000 after Mr Burnham’s decision on Monday.

This will not include people convicted of manslaughter, and the Government apologised to the family of Pc Andrew Harper as two of his killers remain eligible for early release.

Last week, sexual abuse survivors, including Carol Higgins from Yorkshire, handed in a petition signed by more than 100,000 people to Downing Street, calling for Mr Burnham to “urgently rethink” the scheme.

Ms Higgins, whose father was jailed for 20 years for raping her “nearly every day” for more than two years, said: “Every minute taken off his prison time is a minute added to my fear and anxiety, and a trigger for my complex PTSD.”

Today, Mr Burnham wrote back to the victims, apologising that they had to return to “experiences that no one should have to endure in the first place”.

In the letter, seen by The Yorkshire Post, he said: “I am truly sorry that, in asking your government to act, you have had to reopen those wounds once again.”

Mr Burnham said: “I don’t think anyone could listen to the stories of survivors and conclude that the original proposal struck the right balance. So I’ve acted to change it.

“I know that for some of you, these changes will not go far enough.

“You will rightly want to see more offenders serve the full sentence imposed by the courts.

“The truth is I wanted to go even further too. I have pushed hard on what more we could do - but it’s impossible without prisons reaching capacity and collapsing within months.

“The system really is on its knees. Decades of underfunding mean prisons are now at 98 per cent capacity.”

Amy Clowrey, of Switalskis Solicitors in Wakefield, who is representing many of the survivors, said the “announcement shows that when survivors, campaigners and those working with victims speak with one voice, change can happen”.

However, Ms Clowrey added: Iit remains unclear what the Government determines a ‘serious’ child sexual offence is and this needs clarifying urgently.

“Victims of other serious violent offences also deserve confidence that sentences imposed by the courts will be served as intended, and the success of these reforms will depend on whether probation services have the resources to manage offenders safely in the community.

“We must continue to ensure that victims remain at the heart of any sentencing reform.”