The head of the criminal bar has welcomed plans to let rehabilitated offenders serving now-scrapped imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences ‘get on with their lives’.

Justice secretary Alex Chalk announced yesterday that IPP licence periods would be curtailed to give ‘rehabilitated people the opportunity to move on with their lives, while continuing to make sure the public are protected from the most serious offenders’.

IPP sentences, introduced in 2005, were designed to prevent offenders considered dangerous from being released even though the offence did not merit a life sentence. They were criticised for catching less serious offenders, and putting additional strain on the prison and parole system. They were abolished for offenders convicted after 3 December 2012.

Offenders released from prison on licence while serving IPP sentences have to wait at least 10 years before the Parole Board can review their licence. An amendment to the Victims and Prisoners Bill would see IPP offenders serving their sentence in the community referred for review three years after their first release. If a licence is not terminated at the three-year mark, it will automatically terminate after a further two years if the offender has not been recalled to prison. 

The Criminal Bar Association welcomed the announcement.

CBA chair Tana Adkin KC said: ‘The change in government approach to bring at last some sense of final determination to IPP sentences sends not just a positive signal to those incarcerated and deemed to no longer pose a threat to public harm but to the entire criminal justice system that ministers are taking on board expert evidence not least from the cross-party justice select committee.

‘At the heart of a liberal democracy must be a criminal justice system which is fair to both victims of crime and offenders, so that crimes can be punished, criminals deterred from reoffending and public safety maintained, whilst at the same time offering hope for the convicted that there is a fair process allowing them to be readmitted to society.’

The ministry says around 800 people will become newly eligible for Parole Board consideration by March 2025. The change will apply retrospectively, ending licences for around 1,800 rehabilitated offenders once the legislation comes into force.