Overview

• The Ministry of Justice has formally unveiled the restriction-zone proposals, which require new primary legislation to be introduced this autumn.
• Violent and sexual offenders will be GPS-tagged and subject to virtual boundaries, with breaches punishable by a return to custody.
• Probation officers will carry out detailed risk assessments and work directly with survivors to map each offender’s banned locations.
• The government has committed £700 million to probation reforms and pledged to recruit 1,300 new officers by March 2026 to support enforcement.
• Campaigners and a police commissioner warn that hospital-order offenders fall outside the new measures and that parole release decisions could be unduly influenced.