Criminal Justice: Imprisonment for Public Protection

Lord Lexden Excerpts

Wednesday 9th December 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Con)]

I will take the noble Lord’s ideas back to the service. However, we have to remember that an offender serving an IPP sentence may only be recalled when they have breached their licence conditions in such a way as to indicate that they are a risk, and that risk has escalated to a level where they can no longer be safely managed in the community.

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Lexden) (Con)]

The noble Lord, Lord German, has withdrawn, so I call the noble Lord, Lord Farmer.

[Lord Farmer (Con)]

My Lords, the report recognises the importance of good family and other relationships in stabilising the inherently unstable IPP situation. It particularly mentions how meaningful activities such as caring responsibilities provide positive structure. The report also frequently refers to released IPP prisoners becoming resettled into good family and other relationships, only for these to be re-ruptured when they are recalled. How is the protective factor against reoffending, that is rehabilitative relationships, taken into account in recall decisions?

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Con)]

As I have said before, public protection has to be our priority. We recall only those assessed as posing an unacceptably high risk of harm to the general public. But of course we need to keep this under review, and each of those cases and offenders is under constant review.

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Lexden) (Con)]

The noble Baroness, Lady Fox of Buckley, has withdrawn, so I call the noble Lord, Lord Vaizey of Didcot.

[Lord Vaizey of Didcot (Con)]

My Lords, imprisonment for public protection is a controversial sentence, but it has been seen to be effective in some high-profile cases. Has the European Court of Human Rights looked at these sentences and, if so, what conclusions has it drawn?

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Con)]

My Lords, every prisoner has a key worker, who is dedicated to providing support for individual prisoners at any one time and to understanding any mental health issues they might have. We are also working very closely with the Samaritans in our prisons and are supporting the excellent Listener scheme, in which prisoners help other prisoners with emotional support. Last but not least are the four key priorities for prison managers’ training. This includes an awareness training module for staff to identify and recognise mental health issues and substance misuse.

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Lexden) (Con)]

My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has now elapsed.