Prisoners: Imprisonment for Public Protection Sentences

Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood Excerpts

Wednesday 11th November 2015 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many of those still serving Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences have now been imprisoned for more than five times their tariff sentences, and whether their imprisonment will continue indefinitely unless and until the Parole Board is satisfied that it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public that they should be confined.

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

Of those prisoners serving sentences of imprisonment for public protection at the end of September 2015, 392 had served more than five times their tariff. IPP prisoners will continue to be detained until the independent Parole Board is satisfied that the risks they pose to the public are safely manageable in the community.

[Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood (CB)]

I am grateful to the Minister for that Answer. She confirms that there are in our overcrowded and expensive prison system already several hundred prisoners serving well beyond the appropriate term representing punishment for their offending. Some 392 have done more than five times their tariff term, and many hundreds more have also served well beyond their term. This is of course a form of preventive detention—internment—entirely alien to our traditional criminal justice approach.

In 2012, that whole system was finally abolished and power was given to the Lord Chancellor to amend the test to ensure that those people previously sentenced could finally secure their release. The previous Lord Chancellor failed in that regard. When will this Lord Chancellor finally decide to bring this terrible scourge to an end?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

I thank the noble and learned Lord for his question. Of course, I am well aware that noble Lords across the House have raised this issue on numerous occasions. We are taking measures to attempt to address the situation. One positive thing I hope that noble Lords will accept is that the Parole Board is tackling the backlog in oral hearings, which has been reduced by 18% since January. The noble and learned Lord is absolutely right that the Secretary of State has the power to amend the release test. He is extremely mindful of the concerns expressed and of his powers, but there are no plans to use those powers at present.