Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prisoners serving indeterminate sentences of imprisonment for public protection handed down before 14 July 2008 are beyond their minimum tariff; and what offences each such prisoner committed.

The indeterminate sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) was abolished in late 2012, but not retrospectively. It is for the independent Parole Board to determine whether a prisoner serving an 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. It is right that IPP prisoners should remain in custody until it is safe for them to be released.

Some short tariff IPPs who were sentenced prior to the 2008 changes are achieving release, where they engage with opportunities provided to them to reduce their risk. As the table below shows, a total of 594 of these prisoners remain in custody as at the end of September 2014. This compares to 650 at the end of March 2014.

The first table shows the number of IPP prisoners whose tariff length was less than 2 years and who were sentenced prior to 14 July 2008, by offence, as at 30 September 2014.

The second table shows the number of IPP prisoners whose minimum tariff expiry date has passed and who were sentenced on or after 14 July 2008, by offence, as at 30 September 2014.

52.2% of the total number of IPP prisoners, who were sentenced on or after 14 July 2008, have passed their tariff expiry date.

The third table shows the number of IPP prisoners whose minimum tariff expiry date has passed, by offence, as at 30 September 2014.

72.4% of the total number of IPP prisoners have passed their tariff expiry date.

The fourth table shows the number of IPP prisoners whose minimum tariff expiry date has passed and who were sentenced prior to 14th July 2008, by Offence, as at 30 September 2014

95.4% of the total number of IPP prisoners, who were sentenced prior to 14 July 2008, have passed their tariff expiry date.

These 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.