Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many of those imprisoned under an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection have been released on licence in each year since May 2010.

It is for the independent Parole Board to determine whether a prisoner serving a sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) should be released once he has completed the minimum custodial period set by the Court for the purposes of retribution and deterrence – commonly known as the “tariff”. Under the statutory release test, the Parole Board may direct the release of an IPP prisoner only if it is satisfied that it is no longer necessary on the grounds of public protection for the prisoner to be detained in custody.

The number of prisoners serving an IPP sentence released from prison from the year 2010 until June 2014 is published aspart of the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly publication by the Ministry of Justice. This is available online at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly