Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Prison Reform Trust’s report, No life, no freedom, no future, published December 2020, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of repealing IPP sentences.

While the Government has no plans to repeal IPP sentences, it keeps the operation of those sentences under review. The focus is on ensuring, via a joint HMPPS/Parole Board action plan, that IPP prisoners have every opportunity to progress towards safe release.

This approach is working, with high numbers of unreleased IPP prisoners achieving a release decision each year. All IPP prisoners will have their continued detention reviewed by the independent Parole Board at least once every two years.