Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people are serving (a) prison sentences and (b) Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences in prisons in Erith and Thamesmead constituency; how many of those people serving IPP sentences are (i) post-tariff, (ii) have been recalled to custody and (iii) have been recalled to custody for non-compliance as opposed to further offending.
Answered by Alex Chalk
For prisons in Erith and Thamesmead constituency (HM Prisons Isis, Belmarsh and Thameside), as at 31 March 2021:
(a) 1,347 people were serving prison sentences;
(b) 28 of these were serving Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences, of which:
(i) 28 were post-tariff;
(ii) 22 of which had been recalled; and
(iii) 8 of the recalled prisoners were recalled solely for reasons other than further offending.
There is often more than one reason for recalling an offender, specifically in relation to recalls taking place on the basis of non-compliance. For the purpose of this answer, all reasons for recall other than further offending have been amalgamated to provide the answer for (b)(iii). The figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
The power to recall is a vital public protection measure. Offenders on licence in the community will be recalled to custody where they breach their licence conditions in such a way as to indicate that their risk has increased to the level where it may no longer be managed effectively in the community.
Our primary responsibility is to protect the public; however, HMPPS remains committed to safely reducing the number of prisoners serving IPP sentences in custody.