Justice Secretary to take ‘decisive action’ over indefinite prison sentences

The Justice Secretary has said he will take “decisive action” to address indefinite prison sentences, which he described as a “stain on our justice system”.

In the Commons, Alex Chalk confirmed the Government’s plans to free up prison space by deporting more foreign criminals, transitioning away from short sentences in favour of community punishments and reviewing the now-abolished Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences.

His comments come as capacity in the prison estate has come under serious pressure, with concerns in recent days that a lack of space could see sentencing delayed in some cases.

In relation to IPP sentences, the Justice Secretary said he would look “at options to curtail the licence period”, but insisted “this will not compromise public safety”.

IPP sentences were introduced in 2005 to prevent serious offenders who did not warrant a life sentence being released when they still posed a danger to the public.

Despite being scrapped in 2012, nearly 3,000 criminals remain behind bars after being given such a sentence.

Mr Chalk told MPs: “We will take decisive action to address sentences of imprisonment for public protection.

“We have put a stop to these discredited sentences a decade ago, but it is true that there remain around 3,000 IPP prisoners in custody despite their original tariff expiring years ago.

“IPPs are a stain on our justice system, so I am looking at options to curtail the licence period to restore greater proportionality to IPP sentences in line with recommendation eight of the Justice Select Committee’s report, and I will come back to the House in due course.

“This will not compromise public safety. Those found by the parole board to pose a risk to the public will not be released.”

Elsewhere in his statement, Mr Chalk said the Government would use the powers it has to allow the prison service to let some prisoners out of jail up to 18 days early to ease overcrowding.

However, he said this will not apply to “anyone serving a life sentence, anyone serving an extended determinate sentence, anyone serving a sentence for an offence of particular concern, anyone convicted of a serious violence offence, anyone convicted of terrorism, [and] anyone convicted of a sex offence”.

The Justice Secretary added that releases would only be made under certain conditions, including electronic tagging and attending appointments, and that a breach could lead to “recall to custody for the entire second half of the sentence”.

He also confirmed the Government is intensifying efforts to deport foreign prisoners more promptly, that it would legislate to allow prisoners to be held in overseas prisons and review the incentives around early guilty pleas.

On plans to build more prison places, he announced up to £400 million for more prison places and that 35,000 cells will be refurbished across the estate to bring them up to modern standards.

Responding to his statement, shadow justice secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “Not one word of apology to the British public for failing in the first duty of Government, and that is to keep our citizens safe.

“As everybody knows, the first stage of rehabilitation is to acknowledge your mistakes and make a sincere apology to those affected and let down by your actions or in his case inaction and his failure to do so today is utterly inexcusable.

“It is a damning indictment of this Government’s collective failure. Our prisons are completely full. We have been sounding the alarm for many years now, as overcrowding has skyrocketed.”