The government has blocked 128 prisoners trapped under indefinite jail terms from moving to open conditions in the past 12 months.
Figures obtained in response to a parliamentary question show that the justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has refused to allow scores of inmates serving abolished imprisonment for public protection (IPP) jail terms to progress to an open prison, despite the Parole Board recommending their transfer. Politicians and campaigners have hit out at the “scandalous” number of prisoners being stopped from moving to a lower category prison where they may be eligible for day release, warning it reinforces the sense IPP is the sentence of “no hope”.
More than 2,600 are still inside with no release date, 12 years after the indefinite terms were abolished amid human rights concerns. At least 90 IPP prisoners have taken their own lives as they lose hope of ever being freed. For more information, listen to this Podcast on the topic.
The government has come under fire for refusing to resentence those on IPP with minister James Timpson last month telling the House of Lords it was “right” that release decisions are made by the independent Parole Board. Instead, he said IPP inmates must focus on progressing towards being approved for release by the Parole Board despite more than 700 having served at least 10 years longer than their minimum term.
However, in answer to a parliamentary question from Labour MP Kim Johnson, justice minister Sir Nicholas Dakin said that the secretary of state was free to accept or reject the Parole Board’s recommendations to move someone to an open prison. Figures reveal the government has refused to follow Parole Board recommendations to progress IPP prisoners in 61 per cent of cases in the past year. In the first four months of 2024, under the previous Tory government, every single IPP prisoner recommended for progression was denied a move to open prison. Since the Labour government was elected in July the number moved has increased, although 45 per cent were still blocked in the last six months of 2024.
The figures come as former justice secretary David Gauke called for thousands of prisoners to be moved to open prisons to tackle overcrowding and help prepare inmates for release who is leading a review of sentencing policy, believes the move would save money and help reduce reoffending. “We don’t make as much use of open prisons as we might do.”
Lord Woodley, who has tabled a private member’s bill for IPP prisoners to be resentenced, said the figures of those blocked from moving to open prisons were “scandalous”. “Without wishing to sound cynical, some might say the government seem happy to hide behind the Parole Board when it suits them, but to ignore their advice when it doesn’t,” he said.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “It is right that IPP sentences were abolished. We recently terminated the lifetime licences of more than 1,700 rehabilitated offenders, and are improving the rehabilitation and mental health support for those still in prison.
“The Lord Chancellor considers the recommendations from the independent Parole Board as to whether to place IPP prisoners in the open estate and public safety is at the heart of any decision.”
However the information on the few having been moved to Open conditions after a Parole Board recommendation makes that statement seem indefensible and will pile more pressure on Lord Timpson when he returns to the Justice Committee early in 2025.