On Tuesday, peers will consider amendments to the victims and prisoners bill, including one proposed by Baroness Fox of Buckley, who wants the government to resentence people still serving contentious sentences of imprisonment for public protection (IPP).
Lord Blunkett, the former Labour home secretary who established IPPs in the 2003 Criminal Justice Act, has expressed “deep regret” about their impact on convicts and their families.
Implemented in 2005 and abolished in 2012, IPP is a jail sentence with no release date designed for serious violent and sexual criminals who constituted a considerable danger of serious harm to the public but whose offenses did not warrant a life sentence.
Although the government’s declared goal was public safety, complaints rapidly arose that IPP penalties were being applied too widely and catching more petty offenders, with many serving far longer prison terms than their initial sentence.
