Overview
- Lord Tony Woodley’s Private Members’ Bill passed its committee stage in the House of Lords with backing from crossbench peers and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture
- The proposed legislation would mandate new fixed-term sentences for the 2,544 individuals still detained under the abolished IPP scheme
- Peers cited almost 100 suicides and extensive psychological damage among prisoners held years beyond their original tariffs
- Prisons minister James Timpson confirmed the government will not support retrospective resentencing and will continue to rely on the existing IPP Action Plan
- Campaigners warn that non-legislative measures leave prisoners in legal limbo by failing to secure definite release dates or reverse the burden-of-proof shift