Andy Burnham is urged to repurpose women's jails for men only instead to help ease prison over-crowding crisis - after pausing early release scheme

By SHANNON MCGUIGAN, NEWS REPORTER Published: 20:16, 25 July 2026 | Updated: 20:20, 25 July 2026 Andy Burnham has been urged to repurpose at least one women's prison into a male-only jail in a bid to ease the overcrowding crisis after Labour's early release scheme was paused. Campaigners, prison officers' leaders as well as senior members of the Conservative Party have called on the new Prime Minister to make this move, alongside others, in a bid to avoid offenders being released early from behind bars. It comes as Mr Burnham recently paused Labour's prison early release scheme amid outrage at PC Andrew Harper's killers being freed from jail. The Prime Minister said he and his new Justice Secretary Alex Norris would conduct an 'urgent review' of the policy, which had been due to start on September 2. The move threatens to plunge the prison system into fresh chaos, with Mr Burnham insisting no prisoners will be released under the scheme until the review is complete. It will leave officials scrambling to work out prison release plans for thousands of criminals who are due to become eligible for early release. Meanwhile, campaigners have suggested the Labour leader apply an approach, led by his previous local authority Greater Manchester, which guides women who have committed lower-level offences away from jail. The scheme saw a shift in focus to community-based rehabilitation, out-of-court resolutions as well as problem-solving courts in a bid to deal with factors that cause crime such as drugs, alcohol and domestic violence. Meanwhile, Pia Sinha, the chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust (PRT) and former director of women at the Ministry of Justice, set out a six-point plan that could reduce the burden of prison overcrowding. Ms Sinha, who brought HMP Liverpool back from the brink as governor, suggested transforming HMP Bronzefield, the country's biggest female prison, into a male-only facility would create more than 500 free spaces.  Andy Burnham announced a 'pause' on Labour's prison early release scheme on Thursday amid a outrage at PC Andrew Harper's killers being freed from jail Campaigners have urged the PM to repurpose at least one women's prison into a male-only jail in a bid to ease the overcrowding crisis (Pictured: HMP Bronzefield) Converting a women's jail into a men's prison as well as releasing all mothers with babies and pregnant women from jail were also among her solutions.  Women represent around four per cent of the prison population despite only 3,500 women serving time in England and Wales – 2,500 of which have been sentenced for non-violent offences. 'For nearly 20 years we have known what needs to be done to reduce women's imprisonment, yet women are still being sent to prison in their thousands,' Ms Sinha said. 'The problem is not a lack of policy, evidence or good intentions – it is the failure to put these into practice. 'The Prime Minister is right to take victims' concerns seriously, but pausing these reforms does not make the prison capacity crisis disappear.' Meanwhile, former justice secretary Alex Chalk said it was 'absolutely worth looking at' repurposing women's prisons. Mr Chalk, who introduced emergency early release schemes between 2023 and 2024 when Britain's prisons no longer had any space, added the move was 'not a complete silver bullet'. Mark Fairhurst, the chairman of the Prison Officers' Association, said: 'Too many non-violent female offenders are in prison, so maybe they could receive robust community sentences to free up additional capacity.'  PC Harper was 28 when he sustained fatal injuries while responding to a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in August 2019  The Ministry of Justice confirmed Jessie Cole, left, and Albert Bowers might be eligible to be released from prison halfway through their sentences The PRT not only suggested Greater Manchester's previous approach but also urged the MoJ to stop recalling offenders if they breach their licence conditions. Instead, they suggested the use of home detention curfews, electronic tags, as well as filling all spaces in open prisons. It comes as Mr Burnham announced a review of the scheme, which freed criminals who had served just half of their sentence rather than just two-thirds. The Government has so far failed to say whether killers, rapists and paedophiles will be exempt from the scheme. Meanwhile, Sir David Gauke, the ex-Tory justice secretary who headed the independent review into sentencing, said prisons in England and Wales were 'on course to run out of capacity in November' unless the early release scheme remained in place. Mr Gauke, who led a landmark review into the justice system last year, has previously recommended an 'earned progression model' where prisoners could be moved quicker to a 'post-custody' stage after serving one-third of their sentence if they behaved. Posting on X, he wrote: 'The sentencing reforms were driven by necessity. Sentences increased, the release points increased, but capacity did not increase to reflect that. 'This resulted in a capacity crisis in 2024, with a short-term emergency release scheme implemented. We should want to avoid that. 'There is more space in our prisons today, but we should not aim to have prisons at capacity. We might have spaces – but in the wrong places or the wrong type of prison. 'Running at capacity makes it hard to deliver rehabilitation, and leaves the system vulnerable if there is a spike in criminality (for example riots), or if prison capacity is reduced suddenly. 'The current spare capacity won't last long. Without the early release scheme, we are on course to run out of capacity in November, requiring emergency measures.' On Thursday, the PM indicated the scheme could yet face a major overhaul by Mr Norris, with Mr Burnham saying he would 'not hesitate' to make changes. 'Keeping the public safe will always be my top priority,' he said in a statement. 'I am working closely with the new Justice Secretary and have instructed my team to put a pause on the changes that were due to start in September. 'No prisoners will be let out under this policy until we have conducted an urgent review and done everything we can to minimise risk to the public. Where changes are needed, we will not hesitate to make them.' It comes after the revelation that two of PC Harper's killers were being considered for early release under the scheme. PC Harper was 28 years old when he sustained fatal injuries while responding to a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in August 2019. The driver of the vehicle that dragged PC Harper until he was dead, Henry Long, received a 16-year sentence and would not have been eligible for the scheme. PC Harper and Lissie Harper were married just four weeks before the Thames Valley Police officer was killed in 2019  But early release was on the cards for Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, who were passengers in the car and had been handed 13 years in custody for manslaughter after a trial at The Old Bailey in 2020. Both men could have become eligible to be released from prison after serving half of their sentences, rather than two-thirds. Lissie Harper, PC Harper's widow, described the scheme as 'deplorable', and his mother, Debbie Adlam, said Mr Burnham's 'pause' was 'not enough'. 'It's not enough. It's a good start, and it really is a good basis to begin working on some sensible alternatives and looking at options for going forward, because there are so many people this affects, it's not just us,' she said on Thursday. 'It's incredibly personal to us, but it's not just us. And I think it really needs a good looking at, not just a quick meeting and 'that's it, we'll move on.' 'It needs to be looked at thoroughly, and that's what I'm hoping for. We want to see some results from it.'