Peers Urge Reform of Indeterminate Prison Sentences
The House of Lords debates the Imprisonment for Public Protection (Resentencing) Bill, highlighting concerns over indefinite sentences.
- The Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences, abolished in 2012, continue to affect nearly 3,000 prisoners who were sentenced before the law changed.
- A new report reveals that 86 prisoners on IPP sentences have committed suicide, with a record nine suicides occurring in 2023 alone.
- Labour peer Tony Woodley has introduced a bill seeking to convert IPP sentences into determinate sentences, but it lacks government support.
- Conservative peers argue that resentencing could lead to the release of dangerous offenders, posing a risk to public safety.
- Recent reforms have ended license conditions for some rehabilitated IPP offenders, but over 1,000 prisoners remain incarcerated without a release date.
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