Andy Burnham said he will review the Andy Burnham bus fare cap policy before it goes ahead, as he also prepares to look over early prisoner releases due from September under the Sentencing Act. He said hundreds of offenders will start being released early and that the policy includes no exemptions for serious crimes, domestic abuse or terrorism.
“All I can say is I will review the whole of this policy,” Burnham said. He also said: “Nobody can deny the pressure on prison places.”
Burnham tied that pressure to decisions made “a decade or so ago,” saying: “We did not invest in the prison estate when we should as a country, going back a decade or so ago, when it was clear that there was going to be pressure.” He added: “That has created an unacceptable situation now.”
The review is not a blank check. Burnham said: “But I want to assure myself that everything has been looked at before this policy proceeds, and I can give that assurance that every single part of this I will look into with the justice secretary.”
Sentencing Act from September
Hundreds of offenders are due to start being released early in September under the new Sentencing Act. The law makes no exemptions for prisoners convicted of serious crimes, domestic abuse or terrorism, which leaves Burnham reviewing a policy that reaches into cases the public is likely to examine closely once the releases begin.
Burnham said he could not promise a full rewrite. “I can’t say that I can change the policy completely, but I will look at it in detail before we go further forward.” For readers affected by the policy, that means the immediate step is review, not reversal, and the next decision will come after he and the justice secretary go through each part of it.
