Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2016 to Question 38441, what additional resources have been allocated to the management of prisoners serving sentences of imprisonment for public protection in the last 24 months.

The sentence of IPP was introduced in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 for offences committed after April 2005. They were abolished in 2012 by the Coalition Government.

The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) does not disaggregate spending on IPP prisoners from spending on all prisoners.

It is a priority for us to help remaining IPP prisoners progress towards release, when it is safe to do so, including by giving them opportunities to complete relevant interventions and work to reduce their risk of harm and risk of reoffending.

The ongoing work to improve progression opportunities is continuing to achieve results, with 512 IPP releases approved by the Parole Board in 2015, the highest number of annual releases since the sentence became available in 2005.

The release dates of prisoners serving IPP sentences, once they have completed their tariff, is entirely a matter for the independent Parole Board. The Board will direct release only if prisoners’ risks have been reduced to a level that may be safely managed in the community.