Prime Minister Andy Burnham last week announced a new review into indeterminate sentences as part of his plan to reduce the prison population. This includes the Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence, which was abolished 14 years ago.
The IPP sentence was introduced in 2005 for individuals deemed a risk to society but who did not merit a life sentence. It was abolished in 2012, but this did not apply retroactively, meaning those already serving IPP sentences remained on them. David Blunkett, who introduced the sentences, has called them “the biggest regret” of his political career.
As of June 2026, 2,271 people were serving IPP sentences in England and Wales. This figure includes 856 unreleased prisoners and 1,415 recalled prisoners. All but three of these individuals are past their original tariff, which is the minimum time to be served before being considered for release.
The UN special rapporteur on torture, Alice Edwards, has agreed with the assessment that the sentence constitutes “psychological torture”. Ninety-four people serving IPP sentences have taken their own lives in prison up to March 2025. Additionally, 44 people are known to have taken their own lives while on licence, with tracking for these community-based figures beginning in April 2019.
This proposed review would be the third since 2022. Previous recommendations, including resentencing, have not led to legislative action.