IPP reform. Some things to watch out for this month
There are a few things coming up this month that are worth looking out for.
First, the House of Lords is due to hold a final debate (the Report stage) on various IPP-related amendments to the Victims and Prisoners Bill. The most likely date for this is, as I currently understand it, Tuesday 30 April, though it could come earlier (Tuesday 23 April) or later in May.
We’re expecting to know in the next week or so how much ground the government is willing to give, if any, on the current amendments, and thus how likely it is that any of the amendments will make it into law.
In the meantime, Charley Allan has written this piece on where the parliamentary process got to prior to the Easter recess.
Second, the prison and probation service is holding an “IPP week” for prison and probation staff in the week of 22 April. Click the thumbnail for the prison service advert in the latest edition of Inside Time, which has a bit more information on this initiative.
Third, this month we are expecting further information about IPP from government.
On Thursday, 25 April, the latest edition of Offender management quarterly statistics will be published. They will include the latest information (to the end of March 2024) on the number of prisoners serving an IPP sentence: both those recalled and those who have never been released.
Also this month, we are expecting the first IPP Annual Report to be published. The government had previously pledged to publish it in March 2024. So, like much else related to IPP, they have failed to deliver.
Let’s see if it does see the light of day this month, perhaps in “IPP week”.