Justice officials in England and Wales are facing renewed calls to deal with thousands of prisoners still jailed under an abolished Kafkaesque sentencing regime that a report has branded “deeply harmful” for families.
The imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence, scrapped in 2012, was a form of indeterminate sentence in which offenders were given a minimum jail tariff but no maximum for a range of crimes.
Those given an IPP sentence are placed on licence indefinitely after release, and are only eligible to have their licence removed after 10 years.
There are 2,223 people serving IPP sentences who have yet to be released and a further 1,206 serving an IPP sentence who are back in prison having been recalled while on licence. Despite its abolition in 2012, 93% serving an IPP sentence are still in prison having passed their tariff expiry date.
A joint report by the Prison Reform Trust and Southampton University has called for legislation to be introduced to “end the injustice it represents for those serving it” and for the government in the meantime to provide support to alleviate the “painful burden” it places on families of IPP prisoners.
Peter Dawson, the director of the trust, said: “The suffering caused by this disastrous sentence goes on and on. It extends far beyond the people still unjustly held in prison, affecting parents, partners and children, all totally innocent.
“Legislation is needed to finish the job of putting right the injustice done to so many by the IPP sentence. But in the meantime there is scope to do more to support families, reducing their pain and helping them to help their loved ones make a success of life after release.”
The most recent statistics show that among the unreleased IPP prison population there are 187 inmates who were given a minimum tariff of two years who have been behind bars for more than 10 years.
The figures show for the first time more IPP prisoners were returned to custody after licence recall than were released from custody in the past 12 months. In the year to 30 June, there were 433 releases of IPP prisoners, but 636 IPP prisoners were returned to custody after licence recall.
The report, A Helping Hand: Supporting Families in the Resettlement of People Serving IPPs, found that the pain caused to families of people serving IPP sentences had not been addressed by criminal justice agencies.
This meant that the contribution families could make to the rehabilitation and resettlement of IPP prisoners was not being realised, the report said.
The report’s authors have recommended more consistent communication and the provision of specific support for families.
Dr Harry Annison, one of the authors, said: “Families of people serving IPPs carry considerable burdens in supporting their relative through their sentence. All criminal justice organisations should avoid inadvertently placing further burdens on those who have often given years of devoted support to their relative.
“Additional information, guidance and support for families, and actions to ameliorate some of the pains experienced, would help to ease the burden on families and enable them to better support their loved ones in prison and on release.”
Introduced in 2005, IPPs were designed to detain indefinitely serious offenders who were perceived to be a risk to the public. The Home Office initially estimated that the sentence would result in 900 people going to prison. However, more than 8,000 IPP sentences were imposed, placing severe strain on prison, probation and parole board resources.
As a result of these concerns and mounting legal challenges, the IPP sentence was abolished in 2012. However, its abolition was not retrospective.
