The Criminal Justice (Sentencing) (Licence Conditions) (Amendment and Revocation) Order 2026 does two things. It revokes S.I. 2026/760 and replaces it with a fresh instrument, S.I. 2026/911, because the commencement timetable has been changed. For readers tracking the legislative sequence, the new Order was made on 7 August 2026 and laid before Parliament on 10 August 2026. The explanatory note states that the replacement is being issued free of charge to known recipients of the earlier instrument, and that the text is otherwise unchanged apart from the revised start date.
The Order is made under section 250(1) and (8A) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, with subsection (8A) inserted by the Sentencing Act 2026. The Secretary of State records that regard has been had to the statutory purposes of licence supervision: protection of the public, prevention of reoffending and support for the prisoner's successful return to the community. That legal framing is important. This is not a broad probation reform measure. It is a focused amendment to the standard licence conditions applying to offenders serving determinate custodial sentences and released on licence in England and Wales.
Commencement is split across two dates. Articles 1 and 3 come into force on 1 September 2026, while article 2 comes into force on 1 October 2026. Article 3 is the revocation provision, so the earlier July instrument falls away before the amended licence conditions themselves begin. In practical terms, the revised timetable gives probation services, prisons and legal advisers a short transition window. Operational documents can be corrected in advance, while the underlying policy position remains stable because the Department has stated that the replacement Order changes timing rather than substance.
One amendment is definitional. The 2015 Order will now include a definition of "supervising officer", linked to the officer responsible for managing the offender under probation provision arrangements made under section 3 of the Offender Management Act 2007. That matters because the revised standard conditions repeatedly place approval and reporting functions in the hands of the supervising officer. The definition gives a clearer statutory anchor for decisions on residence, employment, reporting, passport information and travel requests.
The main operative change is the substitution of the standard conditions in article 3(2) of the 2015 Order. The revised text restates the baseline requirements in plainer language: the offender must behave well, must not commit further offences, must keep in touch with the supervising officer as instructed and must attend meetings where directed, including at the address where the offender lives. The same provision also sharpens the approval structure around everyday supervision. An offender must live at an address approved by the supervising officer, obtain permission before staying elsewhere for one or more nights, notify the supervising officer about any new work or new type of work and secure approval before starting that work. According to the explanatory note, the wording has been updated to make the conditions easier for offenders to understand.
The revised standard conditions also add a specific passport requirement. Offenders must tell the supervising officer if they hold a passport, provide the details requested and obtain permission before applying for a new passport. The travel restriction remains in place, requiring permission before leaving the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, except where a person is being deported or removed for immigration purposes. Further disclosure duties apply to names and contact details. Offenders must notify the supervising officer of any names used that differ from the names on the licence, and must report changes to contact information, including telephone numbers and email addresses. In policy terms, this gives supervising officers firmer access to identity and movement information after release.
For probation practitioners, the immediate effect is administrative rather than strategic. Licence templates, induction wording, digital case records and compliance guidance will need to reflect the October text precisely, especially where prior approval is needed for accommodation changes, employment, passport applications and overseas travel. Clearer drafting may also assist enforcement by reducing room for disagreement about what the licence required. The explanatory note states that no impact assessment has been prepared because no impact, or no significant impact, on the private, voluntary or public sectors is foreseen. Even so, the Order has clear operational weight: it resets the legal commencement date for revised licence conditions and introduces a defined passport disclosure duty within the standard conditions applying to determinate sentence prisoners released on licence.