Policy background
Terrorism offenders can receive a variety of sentences depending on the offence committed, and dangerousness. Many receive a determinate sentence, where prisoners are entitled to be released on licence once they have served one half of their sentence. They continue to serve their sentence in the community on licence until the expiry of the sentence. Others in England and Wales receive a SOPC, under which prisoners may be considered for release by the Parole Board once they have served one half of the custodial element of their sentence. In England and Wales, those assessed as dangerous may receive an extended determinate sentence (EDS) under which they may be considered for release by the Parole Board once they have served two-thirds of the custodial element of their sentence. In Scotland, offenders receiving Extended Sentences may be considered for release after serving half of the custodial element of their sentence. Extended sentences and SOPCs have a custodial term and a separate extended licence set by the court as part of the sentencing exercise. There are also some former release provisions that still apply to older sentences from the Criminal Justice Act 1991 and older types of extended sentences imposed before the current EDS regime came into force which retain previous release arrangements.
	Release arrangements in Scotland changed in 2016; long-term sentences imposed before that point resulted in automatic release at the two thirds point if the prisoner had not been released earlier on a Parole Board recommendation. Since that change, those serving extended sentences have remained eligible for release from the halfway point but without automatic release before the end of the custodial term.
	Following the events at Fishmongers’ Hall on 30 November 2019, the Government announced a new approach to the sentencing and management of terrorist offenders. 1 This included:
Introducing longer sentences for the most serious dangerous terrorist offenders and ending early release for other serious dangerous terrorist offenders;
An overhaul of prisons and probation, to include tougher monitoring conditions and doubling of counter-terrorism probation officers;
Counter-Terrorism Police funding to be increased by £90 million for 2020/21; and
A review of support for victims of terrorism, including an immediate £500,000 to the Victims of Terrorism Unit.
	The Government is also launching an independent review of the way different agencies, including police, probation service, and the security services investigate, monitor and manage terrorist offenders – called Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA).
	Many of these measures are underway, and those focused on ensuring the most serious and dangerous terrorist offenders spend longer in prison, with strengthened licence periods, will be included in a new Counter-Terrorism (Sentencing and Release) Bill.
	In January, Parliament approved the Release of Prisoners (Alteration of Relevant Proportion of Sentence) Order 2020 which amends in England and Wales the automatic release point from half-way to two-thirds of the sentence for those convicted of a relevant violent or sexual offence (defined within the Order as an offence listed in Part 1 or 2 of Schedule 15 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003 for which the maximum penalty is life) and sentenced to a standard determinate sentence of 7 years or more. This will come into effect on 1 April 2020 and will apply to persons sentenced on or after that date.