Labour's 'shameful' prison early release scheme will leave victims 'living in fear' when it begins releasing thousands of inmates on Thursday, the domestic abuse commissioner has warned.
Dame Nicole Jacobs said abuse survivors were 'uprooting their lives' because 'they simply do not trust that sufficient safeguards are in place'.
About 700 criminals serving sentences of up to 19 months will be released across England and Wales from Thursday morning.
It is the first stage of a new scheme set to free more than 4,500 in total by June.
Labour's soft justice bonanza comes after its previous early release scheme, launched two years ago, led to more than 70,000 criminals being freed early from jail.
Dame Nicole said: 'As the first perpetrators start to be released, survivors across the country will be looking over their shoulder and living in fear because the government and our criminal justice system has failed to protect them.
'It is frankly shameful that as the scheme begins - which ministers have had months to prepare for - I still have no assurance that the danger perpetrators pose has been properly considered and assessed with meaningful input from victims and the specialist services supporting them.
'I have heard from survivors who feel they have been treated as an afterthought throughout this process.
Prisoners seen leaving HMP Brixton in south London two years ago when Labour's first early release scheme was launched
More than 1,700 inmates were freed early in the first day of Labour's previous release scheme in September 2024 including from HMP Liverpool, pictured
'Many are now being forced to make their own plans to protect themselves, including uprooting their lives, because they simply do not trust that sufficient safeguards are in place to manage their abuser safely in the community.'
She added: 'Ultimately, we cannot ignore the fact that the early release scheme has caused untold damage to victims' confidence in the justice system.
'Especially when survivors are now likely to face a longer fight for justice than their perpetrator will spend in prison.'
She called on Prime Minister Andy Burnham and the Labour government to take 'urgent steps' to improve victim safety.
The Government repeatedly flip-flopped over the plans, which are designed to free up space in the overcrowded jails.
After a public outcry Mr Burnham was forced to exclude offenders convicted of rape, serious child sexual and grooming offences, and later expanded exclusions to those convicted of manslaughter and other 'unlawful killing' offences.
But Dame Nicole said many domestic abuse perpetrators remain eligible for early release.
The release scheme was devised by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood in her previous role as Justice Secretary.
Most prisoners currently due to serve 40 or 50 per cent of sentences handed down by the courts will be freed after serving 33 per cent.
As the scheme is rolled out in the coming months, criminals convicted of certain violent or sexual offences who were previously eligible for release two-thirds of the way through their sentence will instead be let out at the halfway stage.
Ministers have attempted to reassure victims that there would be thorough risk assessments of prisoners before release and there would be a 'presumption' that they would be electronically tagged on release.
However, tagging schemes are in disarray.
In July spending watchdogs warned the public were being put at risk by major problems with electronic tagging.
It found criminals ordered to take part in electronic monitoring schemes never even get a tag fitted.
In its report the National Audit Office (NAO) also highlighted concerns over whether tagging could be 'safely scaled up' to replace jail sentences.
The NAO's report said: 'HM Prisons and Probation Service is continuing to scale the service while key elements are not yet working effectively, leading the service to operate beyond its stated risk appetite and tolerance levels.
'This increases the risk of poor performance and threats to public protection escalating as demand grows.'
More than 5,400 criminals supposed to have been tagged by the end of March had not been fitted with the devices, it emerged.
Another watchdog report, published earlier this week, found that almost half of electronic tags are not fitted on time, putting victims at risk.
His Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation said some criminals were waiting up to five months to be tagged, leading to repeated breaches of court and prison orders.
And in a further development, a joint report by the probation and police inspectorates warned that dangerous stalkers were walking the streets despite breaching their electronic tagging orders more than 30 times.
Labour's previous early release scheme – allowing offenders out after serving 40 per cent of their sentences - has seen 70,066 criminals freed between its launch in September 2024 and the end of March.
The replacement scheme, coming into force tomorrow, offers even larger sentence reductions for many criminals and applies to a far wider range of criminals, including those convicted of sexual and serious violent offences.
Then there was a further outcry, with the widow of murdered PC Andrew Harper blasting the scheme as 'deplorable'.
Lissie Harper – who married the officer one month before he was dragged to his death by a car in 2019 – blasted Labour after it emerged that two of his killers would be eligible for early release under the new scheme.
Lissie Harper, the widow of PC Andrew Harper, condemned Labour's early release plans this summer, leading PM Andy Burnham to revise the scheme a second time
The PM changed the terms of the scheme again to exclude those convicted of unlawful killing, including all forms of manslaughter.
The previous early release programme led to distasteful scenes at its launch when lags celebrated their freedom outside jails.
Some were collected by friends in expensive sports cars or popped bottles of bubbly, while others vowed to be lifelong Labour voters as a result of their early release.
Ministry of Justice figures have already suggested the scheme may have played a role in a rise in reoffending rates.
The proven reoffending rate rose to 29.9 per cent for the period July to September 2024, up 1.9 per cent on the same period the previous year – covering about three weeks after prison early releases began under Labour's first scheme.
An MoJ document said 'various policy changes' including early release 'may have impacts upon … reoffending rates'.
The early release scheme was set out in Labour's Sentencing Act which also contained separate measures which, from March this year, largely barred the courts from imposing prison sentences of 12 months or less.
Senior police chiefs have repeatedly warned the measures as a whole will lead to an increase in crime and cost forces £400million a year to deal with.