Claire Waxman, Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales, said changes in policy have fuelled distress and anxiety ‘raising a burning question: Is anyone truly in control of this crisis?’
As the government announces further changes to the prison early release scheme, many will welcome efforts to ensure offenders responsible for serious crimes – such as the killing of PC Andrew Harper – do not benefit.
But for many other victims the debate over exemptions can feel far removed from the questions that matter most: Will I be safe, and can I trust the system to protect me?
Over months, we have watched policies change, exemptions added, and positions reversed. For many victims, this has fuelled distress and anxiety while raising a burning question: Is anyone truly in control of this crisis?
This started as a prison capacity crisis. I am increasingly concerned that it is becoming a public safety issue.
When offenders leave prison, often with little to no rehabilitation to reduce their likelihood of reoffending, the responsibility for managing risk falls on overstretched probation officers, overburdened police forces, and underfunded victim services.
For victims, that raises an obvious question: Do the agencies responsible for protecting the public have what they need to manage that risk safely?
Recent events have done little to reassure me. The appalling murder and rape of vulnerable women by serial sex offender Simon Levy exposed what can happen when warning signs are missed, information is not shared, and opportunities to intervene are lost. The consequences were devastating.
Catastrophic failures in the systems designed to identify risk and protect the public allowed those risks to go unmanaged.
With early release and increased community supervision set to place further pressure on probation, police and the wider criminal justice system, I am gravely concerned that these failures and oversights will not be isolated incidents.
I do not envy the choices facing government. The prison capacity crisis is not a crisis of their making. But they now own the response.
As Victims’ Commissioner, I am clear: Victims should never have to shoulder the consequences of years of inaction, only to be let down again by appalling failures in planning, preparation, and communication. Government needs to deliver a clear plan, not only to create prison capacity, but to strengthen the probation, policing, and public protection systems that increasingly carry the burden when prisons are full.
Because public safety is determined by whether the systems responsible for managing risk have what they need to keep people safe.
The question now is whether Government can demonstrate it has the leadership, coordination, and grip needed to meet it – and to keep victims and the public safe.
‘Victims let down by poor communication’
For many victims, the greatest harm of recent months has been the uncertainty.
My office has heard from victims shocked, distressed, and deeply uncertain about what the future holds. The prospect of the offender in their case being released earlier than expected has been a source of anxiety and fear. Many have also been let down by poor communication, receiving little clarity about what these changes could mean for them, their safety, or their future.
Too often, victims have been left trying to make sense of developments through media reports, briefings, and speculation.
This cannot drag on any longer. Those affected need the PM to stick to decisions – and hear them through timely, direct, and trauma-informed communication, not newspaper headlines.
‘Courts backlog must be tackled’
While prisons are rightly dominating the headlines, the crisis in our courts receives far less attention. Yet the two go hand in hand.
Around a fifth of the prison population is made up of defendants waiting for their trial, because cases are taking so long to be heard.
Unless the government tackles the court backlog, it will never solve the prison crisis – and victims face waiting years for their day in court.
‘PM’s plan must include justice system overhaul’
The PM stood on the steps of Downing Street and promised a 10-year Plan for Britain. I’m clear: That plan must include fundamental reform of our justice system.
We cannot continue lurching from crisis to crisis while expecting victims to pay the price. Nor can the government hope to halve violence against women and girls without putting victims first.