Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reasons was there a reduction in Parole Board oral review hearings for imprisonment for public protection prisoners between (a) 2018-19 and (b) 2022-23; and what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of hearings.

In 2018/19 there were 1,317 review oral hearings for IPP prisoners and in 2022/23 there were 792, a reduction of 40%. During a similar period, the unreleased IPP prisoner population reduced from 2,491 on 31 December 2018 to 1,227 on 31 December 2023, a reduction of 51%. As such, the number of IPP oral hearings has reduced by a smaller proportion than the reduction in the IPP prisoner population.

The Parole Board has taken a number of steps to continue to progress those IPPs referred for a parole review, where it is safe to do so, including:

• prioritising indeterminate prisoners, over determinate sentenced prisoners, when listing their oral hearings; and
• giving a future oral hearing date to over two thirds of the IPP prisoners who require an oral hearing, to allow professionals additional notice to prepare for the parole review and give the prisoner a date to work towards.

Officials in the Ministry of Justice, HMPPS and the Parole Board are working closely together to ensure the parole system is working as efficiently and effectively as possible.