BPS supports calls for amendments to Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences
A coalition has urged that amendments be made to IPP sentences, which it says are psychologically harmful.
14 February 2024
In a joint briefing issued to Peers to coincide with a debate in the House of Lords on the Victims' and Prisoners Bill, organisations including the BPS, the Prison Reform Trust, RCPsych, Amnesty International and the Probation Institute have said that IPP sentences are effectively a life sentence in all but name.
The organisations encourage Peers to support a number of amendments as the Bill goes through its second stage reading in the House of Lords.
One of these amendments is Clause 48 which introduces a more proportionate and effective means for the review and termination of an IPP licence. Currently, an individual serving an IPP in the community is not entitled to have their licence reviewed by the Parole Board until 10 years post initial release.
This clause introduces a three-year qualifying period which is more proportionate and creates the realistic prospect of an end to the sentence. The new clause also creates provision so that if the licence is not terminated at the direction of the Parole Board at the three-year point, it will be automatically terminated after a further two years, provided that the individual is continuously on licence during that time.
Professor Nic Bowes, chair of the British Psychological Society's Division of Forensic Psychology, said:
"The BPS welcomes the proposed reforms to the IPP licence. Research studies have shown that IPP sentences are psychologically harmful, leaving people in a chronic state of anxiety and hopelessness, with a detrimental impact on mental health.
"Increasing the prospect that an IPP sentence will end is a positive step towards restoring hope, which is a crucial factor in desistance from crime. We remain concerned about the psychological harm of IPP sentences to those who have never been released from prison, and we support the range of amendments that seek to address their circumstances.
"We also support the Justice Committee's call to form an expert working group to examine a resentencing exercise. Independent expert scrutiny would ensure a carefully planned and evidence-based method of righting the historic wrongs of IPP. Forensic psychologists would make an important contribution to this working group."