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Prisoners: Women

Answer

The IPP Action Plan is regularly reviewed to ensure that it is responsive to the needs of those serving IPP sentences, whether in prison or in the community. During the COVID-19 pandemic, and in accordance with measures mandated in the interests of public health, HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) implemented exceptional delivery models which inevitably had some impact on all operational work. A large number of IPP prisoners have been released each year since the IPP Action Plan was first introduced in 2016, and the Plan will be refreshed, reviewed and republished after careful consideration of the forthcoming Justice Select Committee’s Report and recommendations.

HL7157 & HL7158:

HMPPS operate four Progression Regimes in closed, adult male category C prisons which provide opportunities for parole-eligible prisoners who are not making anticipated progress, and particularly prioritise places for those serving an IPP sentence. The first Progression Regime opened at HMP Warren Hill in December 2014. Following the success of the Regime at HMP Warren Hill, a further three Progression Regimes were opened in 2018 at HMP The Humber, Erlestoke and Buckley Hall.

The following table shows the number of prisoners in England and Wales subject to Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences that have been (1) received into, and (2) released from, Progression Regimes in each year since 2017.

Year	Received onto a Progression Regimes	Release from a Progression Regime
2017	80	47
2018*	124	30
2019	119	43
2020	92	43
2021	80	44

* Progression Regimes opened at HMPs Erlestoke, Humber and Buckley Hall.

These data have been drawn from local spreadsheets and databases held by the Progression Regimes, as national data systems can only capture movement for a whole prison, rather than individual units within a prison. As with any large scale recording systems, the figures are subject to possible errors with data migration and processing.

The total capacity of the Progression Regimes was 202 in 2017, with only the Progression Regime at HMP Warren Hill operational at that time. This number rose to 350 spaces (202 in HMP Warren Hill, 40 in HMP Erlestoke, 48 in HMP Humber and 60 in HMP Buckley Hall) with the opening of the three additional Progression Regime sites by the end of 2018. In 2019 a further 40 places were opened in HMP Erlestoke, however last year one of their Progression Regime units closed, affecting their number of places. This unit is being replaced with a new one later this year.

HL7160:

Psychology reviews for IPP prisoners commenced in 2016 and targeted those serving IPP sentences where no progress had been made to either open conditions or release despite 2 or more post tariff parole reviews. In 2019, the cohort was widened to incorporate IPP prisoners with tariffs of fewerless than 2 years. In 2021, the cohort was again expanded to include all those 5 or more years post tariff irrespective of whether they had been to open prison previously, those serving IPP sentences for non-sexual and non-violent offences, and those serving IPP sentences for robbery.

The following table shows the number of IPP psychology reviews completed for eligible IPP prisoners, as described above, each year since 2016. The high figure in 2016 reflects the fact that a large proportion of those eligible had their reviews in the first year the central reviews were introduced:

Year	Reviews completed
2016	873
2017	209
2018	225
2019	159
2020	107
2021	212

HL7161:

HMPPS Women’s Estate Psychology Services have implemented an indeterminate sentence prisoners strategy which includes the IPP cohort. The overarching goal of the strategy is to ensure that all are supported to progress through their prison sentences as quickly as possible. Psychologists regularly review cases and work with prison and probation colleagues to remove barriers to progression and expedite completion of interventions and services.

HL7216:

The following table shows the number of prisoners subject to IPP sentences that have had two or more post-tariff parole reviews with no progression to (1) open conditions, or (2) release, in each year since 2017:

Snapshot Date	Total number of IPP prisoners with two or more “no release” decisions in their latest two reviews (up to the snapshot date)*
31-Dec-17	1,173
31-Dec-18	1,028
31-Dec-19	943
31-Dec-20	887
31-Dec-21	874

*Caveats:

1. The figures in these tables have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

2. These figures include both the recalled and unreleased IPP populations.

HL7217 & HL7218:

The following data are produced from service provider returns and, whilst quality assured, are subject to reporter error. As of 31 December 2021 there were 4,869 people with IPP sentences who had been identified as meeting the screening criteria for the Offender Personality Disorder Pathway. OPD pathway screening is an administrative activity which does not necessarily mean someone needs a specific intervention to address a personality disorder. Such a need would be identified when the prisoner’s probation officer reviews the prisoner’s sentence plan to take account of the OPD pathway screening.

Of those identified as meeting the screening criteria, 2,780 are currently in custody (with 1,200 of these in custody on recall).

From 1st January 2017 to 31st December 2021, a total of 1,892 offenders serving IPP sentences have been referred to OPD Services as follows:

Year of referral	No of IPP Referrals
2017	177
2018	221
2019	358
2020	517
2021	619
Total (2017-2021)	1892

To note: in the breakdown of protected characteristics below, some categories have been merged where necessary to avoid the risk of identifying individual offenders.

By Age:

Year of referral	18-29	30-39	40-49	50-59	60+	Total
2017	11	72	53	33	8	177
2018	7	94	66	44	10	221
2019	17	159	99	61	22	358
2020	19	238	150	86	24	517
2021	22	276	184	101	36	619
Total	76	839	552	325	100	1892

By Ethnicity:

Year of referral	Asian: Asian British	Black: Black British	Mixed/ Multiple Ethnic Groups	Other / Not Stated	White	Total
2017	8	18	7	0	144	177
2018	4	18	17	0	182	221
2019	15	41	6	1	295	358
2020	14	57	24	0	422	517
2021	12	63	32	7	505	619
Total	53	197	86	8	1548	1892

By Sex:

Year of referral	Female	Male	Unspecified	Total
2017	3	174	0	177
2018	7	214	0	221
2019	11	347	0	358
2020	27	490	0	517
2021	39	577	3	619
Total	87	1802	3	1892

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

HL7161

Session

2021-22

Related items

Deposited Paper DEP2019-0946
Friday, 21 June 2019
Deposited papers
House of Commons

Grouped for answer

Yes

Subjects

Women Education Prisoners Prison sentences Training

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.parliament.uk