Termination of the IPP 99 year licence at 10 year point.
IPP COMMITTEE IN ACTION has shortened this statement to make it easier to understand for those that have learning difficulties
THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR JUSTICE NOW HAS THE RESPONSIBILITY TO REFER THOSE IPP ELIGIBLE TO HAVE THE 99 YEAR LICENCE TERMINATED
The law will require the Secretary of State for Justice to refer every eligible Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) offender to the Parole Board for consideration for licence termination.
How are they going to do it?
Those serving Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences are eligible to have their licence terminated at the discretion of the Parole Board once 10 years have elapsed from their first release. Where the Parole Board decides to terminate an offender’s IPP licence, the result will be to bring the licence and thereby the sentence as a whole to a definitive end.
The Secretary of State has made it his policy to seek to refer every eligible offender to the Parole Board. However, the current statutory provisions provide that the offender has to make the application, so permission has to be sought from the offender for the Secretary of State to make the application on their behalf.
The PCSC Act will, instead, place a requirement on the Secretary of State to automatically refer eligible IPP offenders to the Parole Board, removing the need for the offender to give permission for such a referral to be made. Where the Parole Board opts to keep the licence in place, the Secretary of State will automatically re-refer them every 12 months.
The law clarifies that offenders who are in prison following recall under the IPP licence or are serving another determinate sentence (without having been recalled under the IPP licence) will also be automatically referred to the Parole Board by the Secretary of State. In these cases, the Parole Board will determine if it is necessary for the protection of the public that, when released, the offender remains under the IPP licence.
This change will ensure that all eligible IPP offenders are referred to the Parole Board for consideration for licence termination and will therefore bring the IPP licence, and sentence as a whole, to a definitive end for more offenders.
Background
The Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence was introduced in 2005 as an indeterminate sentence targeted at serious offenders who, although they were thought to pose an ongoing risk to public safety, did not merit a life sentence. An IPP sentence could be received for sexual and violent offences such as robbery, indecent assault on a child, or wounding with intent.
Under the sentence, offenders were given a minimum term which had to be served in custody in full. At the end of the minimum term, they could only be released if the Parole Board was satisfied that they were safe to be released on licence.
IPP sentences were abolished in 2012 by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act because they were used too widely and inconsistently. However, this abolition was not applied retrospectively. The Government recognised that to re-sentence those relevant individuals would result in the immediate release of many without an assessment by the independent Parole Board that they could be managed safely in the community. This would have exposed the public to unacceptable risk of serious harm.
Therefore, those who had already been sentenced to and were serving an IPP sentence in prison continued to serve the sentence either because they had not yet served the minimum term of imprisonment or, where they have served the minimum term, because the independent Parole Board had determined that their risk remained too high for them to be safely managed in the community.
IPP offenders are eligible to have their licence terminated at the discretion of the Parole Board once 10 years have elapsed from their first release. The Secretary of State has made it his policy to seek to refer every eligible offender to the Parole Board. However, as the current statutory provisions stipulate that it is for the offender to make the application himself or herself, the Secretary of State must first obtain the offender’s permission to proactively apply on their behalf.
The PCSC Act changes the law around licence termination to ensure all eligible IPP offenders have every opportunity to get their licence, and the sentence as a whole, terminated.
Frequently asked/useful questions
Who terminates IPP licences?
IPP offenders who are beyond 10 years since their first release are eligible to be considered for licence termination. The Parole Board are responsible for determining whether an offender is safe enough to have their licence terminated.
If so the offender is judged to be sufficiently safe, the licence is terminated and the offender is no longer subject to supervision in the community or able to be recalled to prison.
How are IPP licences terminated?
Prior to the PCSC Act, offenders were able to apply to the Board however the Secretary of State typically did this on their behalf, so long as the offender gave permission for the application to be made.
The PCSC Act requires the Secretary of State to refer all eligible IPP offenders to the Board; thereby removing the need for the offender in question to give permission. This means IPP offenders will have every opportunity to have their licence terminated.
Why are recalled offenders treated differently from those on licence?
When an IPP offender is recalled to prison under the IPP licence, the licence itself is revoked and therefore it cannot be terminated at that time.
In these cases, the Secretary of State will still refer the offender to the Parole Board, however the Board will instead consider if the licence should remain in place following any subsequent release.
How many IPP offenders are still in prison?
As of September 2021, there were 1,661 offenders who are continuing to serve the sentence in prison, having never been released.
