Making the IPP termination process effective
25 August 2023
Earlier this week, the Justice Secretary announced he was considering reducing the qualifying period in which people on IPP sentences can apply to have the licence terminated. I wrote about this process on 8 June 2023. At the moment, it kicks in ten years after a person serving an IPP sentence has been released.
In my last post on this topic, I looked at data from the Parole Board on IPP termination cases: at the time information that had been supplied to the Justice Committee suggested there had been a total of 881 people who had become eligible for termination between 2020 and 2022. I had also discovered that between April 2022 and May 2023, the Parole Board had received 431 cases, considered 379 of them and granted 160 licence revocations.
Since then I have received further information from both the Ministry of Justice and the Parole Board.
The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that as of 31 December 2022, 771 people had become eligible for termination (see FOI response from 20 July 2023). It has also stated that a total of 152 licences had been revoked by the end of May 2023 (see FOI response from 23 June 2023).
The most concerning data though is the number of people who are unrepresented during the termination process. While legal aid is available, just 16% of people with termination applications March and May this year were represented (just 22 of 141 applications) – see FOI response from 28 July 2023.
Today’s joint call from UNGRIPP and APL for legal aid for IPP terminations to be non-means tested is therefore timely and important. Read the full letter here: https://www.associationofprisonlawyers.co.uk/apl-and-ungripp-seek-better-access-to-justice-for-ipps/