A huge change for those on life licences, with the waiting times for a review cut from 10 years to 3 and many who have already been out for 5 years having their licence terminated.

I wonder if this increases the chances of a review of the disproportionately long waiting times for SOR and SHPOs? The basic principle is that if someone has been out for 5 years without re offending they are no longer a risk and that deciding whether someone is a risk can be done after just 3 years.

Contrast that with SHPOs where the minimum length is 5 years and the waiting time for lifetime reviews is at least 15 years. Those on IPP sentences were originally considered so dangerous that they could be detained forever if necessary. However many with lifetime SHPOs have been released after less than 3 years in prison.

The logic of cutting the waiting times for a review is simple. It saves the police huge amounts of time and money, if they can move people off more quickly. There is also a review of sentencing more generally on the way, which I expect will recommend greater use of community sentences. Again, this all about cutting costs and keeping the prison population down.

The numbers of SHPOs issued in the last year increased by 8% to over 6,000. The numbers on the SOR topped 70,000 for the first time. These headline figures often trigger a review of some kind and we also have the Creedon report recommending change.