Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners in UK prisons are serving life sentences with no possibility of parole.

As of 1 October 2014 there were 55 offenders in England and Wales who are serving a life sentence without a minimum term, thereby requiring them to remain in custody for the rest of their lives with no possibility of parole.

50 of the prisoners were being held in Prison Service establishments, whilst the remaining five were detained in secure hospitals under the terms of the Mental Health Act 1983.

These figures relate to England and Wales only. We do not hold data in respective of life sentence prisoners sentenced in Scotland or Northern Ireland.