Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) men and (b) women given an indeterminate sentence for public protection under section 225 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 have upon release gone on to commit a further criminal offence of a sexual or violent nature.

For the purposes of the Probation Serious Further Offence Review Procedures, a serious further offence (SFO) is where an offender subject to current or recent statutory supervision by providers of probation services is charged with an offence listed in Schedule 15A[1] of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

The IPP sentence was abolished for offenders convicted after 3 December 2012. HM Prison and Probation Service and the Parole Board have worked together to improve the progression of IPP prisoners, so that, where those prisoners embrace the opportunities given to them, they may demonstrate to the Board that they are safe to be released.

Accordingly, the independent Parole Board has directed the release of significantly more offenders on an IPP licence than it had in previous years, which is why we see offenders on an IPP licence charged with an SFOs from 2013/14. Since the abolition of IPP sentences on 3 Dec 2012, the Parole Board has directed the release of around 2,100 offenders on an IPP licence. Of that number, no women and 24 men have been convicted a serious violent or sexual offence, as defined by the Probation SFO Review Procedures.

[1] Those offences currently listed in Probation Instruction 15/2014