Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the (1) lower quartile, (2) median, (3) upper quartile, and (4) interquartile range, of the number of months spent in custody by life sentence prisoners who were released in each year since 2002.
By law, prisoners serving life and other indeterminate sentences must complete their tariff in custody and thereafter be released only when the Parole Board concludes that it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public for them to remain confined to custody. The Government is committed to supporting prisoners to reduce their risk and so progress towards safe release, but the priority is always to protect the public.
HL1672
The following table shows the (1) lower quartile, (2) median, (3) upper quartile, and (4) interquartile range, of tariff lengths in years for prisoners who received a life sentence in each year since 2002.
Year of Sentence | Lower Quartile | Median | Upper Quartile | Interquartile Range |
2002 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 9 |
2003 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 9 |
2004 | 5 | 11 | 14 | 9 |
2005 | 5 | 11 | 15 | 10 |
2006 | 7 | 12 | 18 | 11 |
2007 | 10 | 13 | 17 | 7 |
2008 | 11 | 14 | 20 | 9 |
2009 | 12 | 15 | 19 | 7 |
2010 | 13 | 17 | 22 | 9 |
2011 | 14 | 17 | 21 | 7 |
2012 | 14 | 18 | 24 | 10 |
2013 | 13 | 17 | 23 | 10 |
2014 | 11 | 17 | 23 | 12 |
2015 | 11 | 17 | 23 | 12 |
2016 | 12 | 17 | 22 | 10 |
2017 | 10 | 17 | 22 | 12 |
2018 | 13 | 18 | 23 | 10 |
2019 | 14 | 18 | 23 | 9 |
2020 | 14 | 19 | 24 | 10 |
2021 | 15 | 19 | 24 | 9 |
HL1673
The following table shows the (1) lower quartile, (2) median, (3) upper quartile, and (4) interquartile range, of the number of months spent in custody by life sentence prisoners who were released in each year since 2002.
Year of Sentence | Lower Quartile | Median | Upper Quartile | Interquartile Range |
2010 | 133 | 170 | 240 | 107 |
2011 | 119 | 157 | 213 | 94 |
2012 | 129 | 166 | 240 | 111 |
2013 | 136 | 174 | 243 | 107 |
2014 | 135 | 171 | 236 | 101 |
2015 | 144 | 176 | 224 | 81 |
2016 | 149 | 177 | 229 | 80 |
2017 | 151 | 180 | 247 | 96 |
2018 | 158 | 191 | 235 | 77 |
2019 | 172 | 200 | 268 | 96 |
2020 | 164 | 191 | 240 | 76 |
2021 | 165 | 205 | 263 | 98 |
Notes for above figures: Months spent in custody is calculated from date of sentence to release date. It does not take into consideration time spent in custody before sentence.
HL1674
The following table shows the (1) lower quartile, (2) median, (3) upper quartile, and (4) interquartile range, of the age of prisoners serving a life sentence at the point of release in each year since 2002.
Year of Sentence | Lower Quartile | Median | Upper Quartile | Interquartile Range |
2010 | 37 | 45 | 53 | 16 |
2011 | 34 | 42 | 50 | 16 |
2012 | 38 | 45 | 53 | 15 |
2013 | 38 | 46 | 55 | 17 |
2014 | 39 | 47 | 54 | 15 |
2015 | 38 | 46 | 54 | 16 |
2016 | 40 | 47 | 54 | 14 |
2017 | 39 | 47 | 56 | 17 |
2018 | 40 | 49 | 57 | 17 |
2019 | 42 | 51 | 58 | 16 |
2020 | 39 | 48 | 57 | 18 |
2021 | 39 | 49 | 57 | 18 |
Notes for above figures: Age at time of release does not reflect how long the offender had been in custody.
HL1675
The following table shows the (1) mean, and (2) median, number of months spent in custody beyond tariff for life sentence prisoners at the point of release in each year since 2002.
Year of Sentence | Average | Median |
2010 | 67 | 47 |
2011 | 69 | 51 |
2012 | 81 | 60 |
2013 | 80 | 66 |
2014 | 83 | 65 |
2015 | 76 | 64 |
2016 | 79 | 63 |
2017 | 81 | 55 |
2018 | 90 | 69 |
2019 | 96 | 83 |
2020 | 79 | 44 |
2021 | 83 | 46 |
HL1676
The following table shows the proportion of prisoners serving a life sentence who were released at their first Parole Board hearing in each year since 2002.
| Knockback | Open | Release |
Hearing Start Year | % | % | % |
2010 | 28 | 44 | 28 |
2011 | 31 | 37 | 32 |
2012 | 18 | 39 | 43 |
2013 | 17 | 38 | 45 |
2014 | 26 | 28 | 47 |
2015 | 35 | 20 | 44 |
2016 | 36 | 20 | 44 |
2017 | 25 | 27 | 47 |
2018 | 32 | 22 | 46 |
2019 | 37 | 18 | 45 |
2020 | 28 | 19 | 52 |
2021 | 38 | 19 | 43 |
HL1677
The following table shows the number of 'unreleased IPP prisoners with a tariff length of 10 years or more, by ethnicity group, as at 30 June 2015 to 30 June 2021.
| 30/06/15 | 30/06/16 | 30/06/17 | 30/06/18 | 30/06/19 | 30/06/20 | 30/06/21 |
Total | 94 | 92 | 90 | 87 | 89 | 84 | 76 |
Asian/ Asian British | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
Black/ African/ Caribbean/ Black British | 26 | 26 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 22 |
Mixed/ Multiple ethnic groups | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
White | 57 | 55 | 55 | 52 | 53 | 48 | 45 |
Notes for above figures: Figures exclude prisoners recalled from an IPP sentence
Notes for all figures in the above tables:
Due to rounding, the interquartile range may not equal the difference between the third and first quartiles.
Tariff length is the time between date of sentence and tariff expiry date.
Figures do not include whole-life orders.
Numbers are subject to revision as more data become available.
The figures in these tables 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. Data has been supplied for as many of the requested years as it is possible to provide within cost limits; earlier years may not be available due to changes in recording over time.