Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what specific budget is allocated for the implementation of the current Imprisonment for Public Protection action plan.

HM Prison and Probation Service is using existing resources to deliver the requirements of the IPP Action Plan, ensuring that it is used to best effect to support those serving IPP sentences to achieve their sentence plan objectives and reduce their risks. HMPPS does not allocate funding in such a way as it would be possible to disaggregate specific amounts dedicated to sentence planning, offender management and support for IPP offenders.

Unto that end, the Action Plan focuses on ensuring offenders can access the required services or interventions in order to take positive steps towards a future release, a sustainable life in the community and, ultimately, the end of their sentence altogether. Further, when it comes to those serving the IPP sentence in prison, the Action Plan requires that they have an up to date sentence plan and are held in a prison which provides the intervention(s) specified in the sentence plan. It is expected that the latest IPP Annual Report and Action Plan will be published in mid-May.

We have taken significant action through the Victims and Prisoners Bill to curtail IPP licence periods to give offenders the opportunity to move on with their lives. In addition to these changes, the actions this Government is taking are working; the number of prisoners serving the IPP sentence who have never been released now stands at 1,180 as of 31 March 2024, down from more than 6,000 in 2012.