Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make available quarterly data on the (a) number of prisoners who have received sentences of imprisonment for public protection who are on recall and (b) average period of time spent in prison on recall by such prisoners before release or transfer to open conditions for the period 2012 to 2016.

Supporting imprisonment for public protection (IPP) prisoners in progressing towards release once they have completed their tariff is a priority. In particular, getting IPP prisoners access to any accredited programmes and other interventions which they need to help them reduce their risk of harm is a focus.

In December 2014, NOMS established a Progression Regime in closed conditions for IPP and life sentence prisoners who are not eligible for open conditions. This provides such prisoners with an alternative way to demonstrate reduced risk to the Parole Board.

Quarterly data on the number of prisoners serving a sentence of IPP and who are held in custody following recall for the period 2012-2016 is set out in the table below.

1. Based on population snapshot on last day of quarter where available, or closest population snapshot available.

To provide data on the average period of time spent in prison on recall by IPP prisoners before release or transfer to open conditions requires a manual cross checking of data. Such an exercise would exceed cost limits.