Imprisonment for Public Protection

Lord Keen of Elie Excerpts

Thursday 2nd July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Keen of Elie (Con)]

My Lords, the Independent Sentencing Review chaired by David Gauke recognised the unique challenges posed by the remaining IPP population and recommended further reforms to support progression towards release. What progress have the Government made in implementing those recommendations, and will the Minister commit to publishing regular updates on outcomes for IPP prisoners so that Parliament can judge whether those reforms are actually making a meaningful difference?

[Baroness Levitt (Lab)]

My Lords, I want to reassure all your Lordships that the Government completely understand and share the concerns about this very troubling cohort of prisoners, but the first duty of every Government is to keep the public safe, and that must come first. So, in order to try and reduce this cohort safely, through the action plan the Government are working on licence reform, progression work, recall improvements and support for those prisoners in order to demonstrate risk reduction. We have now provided those serving the IPP sentence with an earlier opportunity for licence termination and an additional opportunity for those serving these sentences thereafter. The IPP annual report and action plan for 2026-27 will be published in July.