Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many persons are presently serving sentences of imprisonment for public protection in England and Wales; and how many of them are more than 80 years of age.

As at 31 December 2016 there were 3,683 prisoners serving a sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP). Of the 3,683 IPPs, 599 were pre-tariff and 3,081 were post-tariff. There are currently fewer than 3 IPP prisoners in prisons aged over 80 years old.

We are working hard to reduce the backlog of parole hearings involving IPP prisoners. We have set up a new unit within the Ministry of Justice to tackle this issue and are working with the Parole Board to improve the efficiency of the process.