Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the most recent data is that his Department holds on the number of (a) unreleased people and (b) recalled people serving a serving a sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection.

The most recent data was published in the Department’s Offender Management Statistics Quarterly on 31 December 2023. As of that date, there were a total of 2,852 prisoners serving a sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection in custody, comprising 1,227 unreleased people and 1,625 recalled people.

The next publication is due on 25 April 2024 and will publish prison population figures as of 31 March 2024. The publication will be accessible using the following link: Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

We have significantly reduced the number of IPP prisoners since we scrapped the sentence in 2012 and have taken decisive action to curtail licence periods to give rehabilitated people the opportunity to move on with their lives.