Justice Minister (): My Noble Friend the
Minister of State for Justice () has today made the following
statement:
'Today, I am laying before Parliament the HMPPS 2025/26 Annual
Report on the IPP Sentence, pursuant to Section 67 of the Victims
and Prisoners Act 2024.
This Report sets out the activity across HMPPS for the financial
year of 2025/26 to support those serving the IPP sentence in
prison to work towards a safe release, and those in the
community, towards the termination of their licence.
The latest published statistics show that as at 31 March 2026,
there were 896 unreleased and 1,433 recalled IPP prisoners,
compared to 1,012 unreleased and 1,532 recalled IPP prisoners on
the corresponding date in 2025. As at 31 December 2025, there
were 891 offenders serving IPP sentences in the community and 207
prisoners in hospital for treatment under the Mental Health Act
1983, compared to 1,376 offenders in the community and 233
prisoners in hospital on the corresponding date in 2024.
The Sentencing Act 2026, which received Royal Assent on 22
January 2026, introduced further reforms to IPP licence
termination on 1 June 2026. These reforms:
- reduced the qualifying period for licence termination from
three years to two years following first release; and
- enable individuals whose licence is not terminated at the end
of this period to apply for a further Parole Board review one
year later, prior to automatic termination.
The IPP Action Plan 2026/27 is included as part of this Annual
Report, which sets out planned HMPPS activity for the year,
including six measurable targets. Through the IPP Action Plan
HMPPS has committed funding to sustain vital services such as the
IPP approved premises pilot, and to trial a new IPP advocate
role, designed to provide more personalised support to those
serving IPP sentences. Further successes include:
- additional funding for Psychology Services, enabling greater
access to specialist assessments for individuals facing the most
significant barriers to progression.
- the Phoenix Unit at HMP Aylesbury is due to open later this
summer as a purpose-designed residential unit to support IPP
prisoners who have become disengaged from progression.
- a Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL) model has been agreed
for all four progression regime prisons (Humber, Warren Hill,
Erlestoke and Buckley Hall) to enable IPP ROTL.
- strengthened recall processes by:
o streamlining the documentation required for a recall request,
to ensure that the reasons for recall are robustly and clearly
stated;
o enhancing quality assurance for decision-making;
o delivering additional training for Public Protection Casework
Section (PPCS) staff who formally revoke an offender's licence;
and
o ensuring that only senior managers in PPCS can revoke the
licence.
- In addition, HMPPS used the Risk Assessed Recall Review
(RARR) power to re-release 61 recalled IPP prisoners between 1
November 2024 and 31 December 2025, in some cases months ahead of
a scheduled parole hearing.
The Government is determined to make further progress towards a
safe and sustainable release for all those serving the IPP
sentence and an eventual end to their sentence, but only in such
a way that does not put the public and victims at risk.'
