Today is a significant day for hundreds of IPP prisoners on licence. Most served way too long in prison (much longer than the tariff set by the sentencing judge). Many were let down by failures of sentence planning and resourcing. But at least - finally - they can be free of the terror of the knock on the door heralding their recall to prison. The termination of their lifelong licences is a very welcome landmark in a shameful period of almost two decades.
However, this is also a day to remember those who did not survive. Those who took their lives rather than endure the pain of an indefinite sentence they did not deserve.
It is also a day to reflect upon the thousands of IPP prisoners who remain in custody or subject to the revolving door of recall. Those in the community who have not had their licences terminated will have an anxious wait before they can have their cases reviewed by the Parole Board. This process begins in February. It will not be quick and it will be fraught with anxiety. Those who have been fortunate enough to find work and who have an income of more than £99 per week (yes, you read that right) will not be eligible for legal aid for assistance with this process. The last and the present Lord Chancellor have been asked to address this and to make legal aid for IPP termination applications non means-tested. Alex Chalk did not make a decision on this before his government were voted out of office. Shabana Mahmood has, thus far, not responded to this request.
Perhaps even more importantly, it is a day to reflect on those still in custody, many of whom have never been released despite serving as long as fifteen years (yes, you read that right) longer than the tariff set by the sentencing judge.
Below is a letter to the Association of Prison Lawyers from Ministers of State in the Justice Department. They are new to the job and cannot work miracles. I hope, however, that they will start to explore the reality behind the 'IPP Action Plan' which is given credit in this letter for contributing to the release of a comparatively small number of IPP prisoners. Those of us who work with stuck IPP prisoners who have lost all hope will raise their eyebrows at this claim. This cohort need much more than a few lines trotted off by people who have never met them, let alone spoken to them or listened to their legal representatives, many who have worked with them for many years, and know their histories and their particular difficulties.
The cohort who remain in custody, most consumed by desperation and rage at their never-ending punishment, need support from highly skilled, patient people who can listen to and work collaboratively with them, who can access resources and can devise and sustain the kind of meaningful rehabilitation to enable them to be released and to have a chance of a life outside prison. The State has a duty to these people. The State is still failing in this duty.
Andrew Sperling
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