GUIDANCE FOR IPP PRISONERS AND SUPPORTERS
Please remember: These templates and tips are tools to help you make them your own. If you’re submitting anything officially, always share it with your legal representative first so they can ensure your words work in your favour.
1. Note to IPP Prisoners and Supporters
This letter template is designed to support IPP prisoners, family members, and survivors in telling their truth, explaining the injustice they’re facing, and calling for change.
Please adapt it to reflect your personal experience, your sentence, your efforts to progress, and your concerns. It’s your voice that matters.
If you're currently in prison and wish to submit this to the Parole Board, Probation, or any other decision-maker, it is strongly recommended that you send it through your legal representative or solicitor first.
Unfortunately, it’s a reality that in some cases, probation or decision-makers may misinterpret or twist words to justify continued detention. Having your solicitor review your submission is a way to protect yourself and ensure your voice is heard clearly and not selectively.
2. How to Personalise Your Letter
Make it your own: Use your own words wherever possible. Explain your IPP sentence, your tariff, and your personal experience with the IPP system.
Be honest and respectful: The Parole Board and legal professionals respect honesty and sincerity. Avoid exaggeration or aggression.
Highlight your efforts: Mention any courses, work, or rehabilitation you have completed or attempted, even if you were unable to access them due to system failures.
Explain the barriers: If courses or programs were unavailable or delayed, say so clearly. This provides important context.
Ask clear questions: For example: “What more do I need to do to be released?” or “When can I expect a fair decision?”
Make it your own: Use your own words wherever possible. Explain your IPP sentence, your tariff, and your personal experience with the IPP system.
Be honest and respectful: The Parole Board and legal professionals respect honesty and sincerity. Avoid exaggeration or aggression.
Highlight your efforts: Mention any courses, work, or rehabilitation you have completed or attempted, even if you were unable to access them due to system failures.
Explain the barriers: If courses or programs were unavailable or delayed, say so clearly. This provides important context.
Ask clear questions: For example: “What more do I need to do to be released?” or “When can I expect a fair decision?”
3. Top Things to Avoid Saying in Parole Submissions
Do not admit to risk or dangerousness you do not believe you pose. Focus on your progress and readiness.
Avoid blaming or attacking individual staff members or departments. This can be seen as uncooperative.
Do not make threats or ultimatums. This can damage your case.
Be cautious when discussing other prisoners or incidents. Only mention them if directly relevant and factual.
Avoid emotional outbursts. Stay calm and focused on your key points.
Do not admit to risk or dangerousness you do not believe you pose. Focus on your progress and readiness.
Avoid blaming or attacking individual staff members or departments. This can be seen as uncooperative.
Do not make threats or ultimatums. This can damage your case.
Be cautious when discussing other prisoners or incidents. Only mention them if directly relevant and factual.
Avoid emotional outbursts. Stay calm and focused on your key points.
4. Legal Routes and Points of Appeal
Seek legal advice: Always discuss your written letters or submissions with a solicitor or legal representative before sending them.
Judicial Review: If you believe your detention is unlawful or the Parole Board has acted unfairly, legal action may be possible.
Resentencing Applications: Some IPP prisoners may be eligible to apply for resentencing, which could reduce or fix the length of their sentence.
Complaints: If you feel your treatment breaches your rights, formal complaints through the prison or Probation may helpbut get legal advice first.
Seek legal advice: Always discuss your written letters or submissions with a solicitor or legal representative before sending them.
Judicial Review: If you believe your detention is unlawful or the Parole Board has acted unfairly, legal action may be possible.
Resentencing Applications: Some IPP prisoners may be eligible to apply for resentencing, which could reduce or fix the length of their sentence.
Complaints: If you feel your treatment breaches your rights, formal complaints through the prison or Probation may helpbut get legal advice first.
5. Important Tips Before Submitting Your Letter
Send through your solicitor: They can advise on how to present your letter and protect you from misuse of your words.
Even honest statements can be misinterpreted. Keep your tone respectful and avoid anything that could be seen as hostile or aggressive.
Ask for confirmation: Request that your solicitor confirms when your submission has been received and added to your parole dossier.
Be patient but persistent: The parole process can be slow. If there is no response in the expected time, you or your solicitor should follow up.
Protect yourself: Legal oversight can prevent misrepresentation.
Keep copies: Always save a copy of what you send for future reference.
Know your rights: You are entitled to a fair hearing. If you believe the process is being mishandled, ask your solicitor about possible legal remedies.
Send through your solicitor: They can advise on how to present your letter and protect you from misuse of your words.
Even honest statements can be misinterpreted. Keep your tone respectful and avoid anything that could be seen as hostile or aggressive.
Ask for confirmation: Request that your solicitor confirms when your submission has been received and added to your parole dossier.
Be patient but persistent: The parole process can be slow. If there is no response in the expected time, you or your solicitor should follow up.
Protect yourself: Legal oversight can prevent misrepresentation.
Keep copies: Always save a copy of what you send for future reference.
Know your rights: You are entitled to a fair hearing. If you believe the process is being mishandled, ask your solicitor about possible legal remedies.
6. Find Your Voice and Keep Fighting
No one knows your story better than you. These templates and tips are here to help you find the words and the confidence to speak up and demand the justice you deserve.
You are not alone. Thousands are facing the same struggle, and more voices are rising every day to call for fairness, release, and respect for those living under the IPP sentence.
Every letter you send, every question you ask, every step you take puts more pressure on the system to change. Your voice matters.
Take this tool, make it your own, and use it to be heard. Stay strong, stay hopeful, and remember: You deserve to be free.
Your fight for freedom matters to all of us.
.........................................................................................................
Template Letter From IPP Prisoner to the Parole Board
Your Name
Prison Number
Prison Name
Date
To the Members of the Parole Board,
Re: My Continued Detention Under the IPP
Sentence – Request for Clarity and Release
I write this letter out of deep frustration
and with a desperate need for clarity. I have now served well beyond my
original tariff, and I remain indefinitely detained under the Imprisonment for
Public Protection (IPP) sentence. I have done my time and more. What I now seek
is a clear and honest answer:
1.
What more must I do to be released? And when,
realistically, will that happen?
I understand the Parole Board must assess
risk. I do not question that responsibility. But I must respectfully highlight
that the conditions for progression, as set out by the system, are simply
not possible to meet within the current state of the prison estate.
Rehabilitation courses that I am told I “Must
complete" are either unavailable, oversubscribed, or simply not running.
Staff shortages mean that even legal visits and basic support are falling
through. Court hearings are being delayed because prisoners cannot even meet
with their solicitors in time.
We are being asked to prove readiness for
release within a system that has no means to provide the very tools we need to
demonstrate that readiness.
Organisations such as UNGRIP and the Howard
League for Penal Reform have made it clear: the government cannot continue to
blame individuals when it is the state itself that is failing to meet its
own duties.
I know the Parole Board is independent. I
respect that. But I must ask again:
- What
are you waiting to see that you haven’t already seen?
- Is
there a real pathway to release for someone like me, or am I just waiting
for a system to fix itself around me, while I lose more years of my life?
I do not pose a risk to the public. I simply
want a chance to rebuild my life after this long and traumatic chapter. My
continued detention is not protecting the public it is compounding the damage
already done by this unjust sentence.
The government’s rhetoric that we are all unsafe does
not match the reality. The vast majority of IPP prisoners have
served far beyond their tariff and are trapped in a cycle of impossible
expectations and system failure.
So I ask you plainly and respectfully:
If I cannot progress through courses that do
not exist, what is the actual basis for my continued detention? When will
I be released?
Please consider this letter not only as a
personal plea but as a demand for fairness, realism, and justice. The IPP
sentence has already been condemned by Parliament, by public opinion, and by
experience. Now, it must be condemned in action too by giving us a route out.
Yours sincerely,
Your Name
Prison Number
Prison address
DATE
.............................................................................................................
Prison Number
Prison Name
Date
Your Name
Prison Number
Key Points
Proposed Two-Year Parole Deadline: Parole Board must commit to release within two years. Places onus on the system, not just the individual, to prove readiness.
Systemic Failure in Prisons: No capacity for mandated courses or rehabilitation. Legal visits disrupted, court hearings delayed clear breach of due process and access to justice.
IPP Prisoners Over Tariff: Around 99% are over tariff continued incarceration is punitive, not protective. Government narrative about "dangerousness" is misleading and unsustainable.
Trauma and Harm: Ongoing imprisonment is causing psychological damage.Most just want a fair route to rebuild their lives.
How to Advocate
Keep the Human Story Front and Center: “that a Everyday over tariff is a day of unjust punishment.” “This isn’t justice it’s indefinite detention without cause.”
Parliamentary Pressure: MPs and Lords should be pushed to ask the government:
“How can you claim to protect the public when the system can't even run basic legal visits or rehabilitation?”
Use the System’s Own Failures: The fact that prisons can't deliver courses undermines the government’s excuse for continued IPP detention. Call for automatic release or resentencing where state failure prevents progression.
Support for William’s Bill, Even though it’s in early stages, public and parliamentary support must be visible to force concessions. Encourage people to write to Lords and MPs to support the reform even in its amended form.pressure remains, and that’s no small thing. Every debate, every report, every visit refused, every court delay it all paints the same picture: a broken, indefensible policy kept alive by political cowardice. Let’s turn that pressure into momentum.
“How can you claim to protect the public when the system can't even run basic legal visits or rehabilitation?”
William’s Bill is now in the Committee Stage
Lord Wigley = Dafydd Wynne Wigley William’s Bill = Bill introduced by Lord Woodley, also known as the Imprisonment for Public Protection (Re-sentencing) Bill. The Bill has now entered Committee Stage, where proposed amendments are examined in detail (e.g., changes proposed by Lord Blunkett, Lord Woodley, and others) commonslibrary.parliament.uk+8crimeandjustice.org.uk+8researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk+8.
It's still in the Lords, awaiting completion of Committee deliberations and any Report Stage debates. After that, it would move to the Commons.
Lord Wigley = Dafydd Wynne Wigley William’s Bill = Bill introduced by Lord Woodley, also known as the Imprisonment for Public Protection (Re-sentencing) Bill. The Bill has now entered Committee Stage, where proposed amendments are examined in detail (e.g., changes proposed by Lord Blunkett, Lord Woodley, and others) commonslibrary.parliament.uk+8crimeandjustice.org.uk+8researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk+8.
It's still in the Lords, awaiting completion of Committee deliberations and any Report Stage debates. After that, it would move to the Commons.
genealogy.com+3members.parliament.uk+3en.wikipedia.org+3.
*To note that William’s Bill and Lord Woodley are one and the same. The Imprisonment for Public Protection (Re-sentencing) Bill was introduced by Lord Woodley (a variant spelling of his title), officially titled “Imprisonment for Public Protection (Re-sentencing)”, and is focused squarely on resolving injustices affecting IPP prisoners
publications.parliament.uk+2bills.parliament.uk+2lordslibrary.parliament.uk+2.
Why Buckingham Matters Now
Committee Stage is a pivotal phase where additions, improvements, or government-resisted changes (like restrictions on resentencing or changes to licence recall powers) are negotiated.
If a version acceptable to both Houses is agreed, the Bill will move on to the House of Commons for debate and votes.
Though government resistance remains (with rhetoric focused on public safety), the Bill does have cross-party support and backing from high-profile advocates (e.g., Lord Blunkett and the Centre for Crime and JusticeStudies) scrole down in link 2nd section
researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk+2parallelparliament.co.uk+2commonslibrary.parliament.uk+2researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk+4theguardian.com+4thetimes.co.uk+4thetimes.co.uk+2crimeandjustice.org.uk+2researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk+2.
Committee Stage is a pivotal phase where additions, improvements, or government-resisted changes (like restrictions on resentencing or changes to licence recall powers) are negotiated.
If a version acceptable to both Houses is agreed, the Bill will move on to the House of Commons for debate and votes.
Though government resistance remains (with rhetoric focused on public safety), the Bill does have cross-party support and backing from high-profile advocates (e.g., Lord Blunkett and the Centre for Crime and JusticeStudies) scrole down in link 2nd section
researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk+2parallelparliament.co.uk+2commonslibrary.parliament.uk+2researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk+4theguardian.com+4thetimes.co.uk+4thetimes.co.uk+2crimeandjustice.org.uk+2researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk+2.
In summary:William’s Bill (Lord Woodley’s IPP Resentencing Bill) is currently active in Parliament, in the House of Lords Committee Stage.
Its next steps:
Final amendments and debates in the Lords.
Potential passage to the Commons.
If successful, it will receive Royal Assent and initiate a precedent-setting resentencing exercise for IPP prisoners.
Its next steps:
Final amendments and debates in the Lords.
Potential passage to the Commons.
If successful, it will receive Royal Assent and initiate a precedent-setting resentencing exercise for IPP prisoners.
Amendments Under Consideration at Committee Stage (Lords)
The Imprisonment for Public Protection (Re‑sentencing) Bill [HL]—sponsored by Lord Woodley (William’s Bill)—is currently in Committee Stage in the House of Lords. Here are key amendments being debated
(as of March 2025) prisonreformtrust.org.uk+2theguardian.com+2theguardian.com+2theguardian.com+12bills.parliament.uk+12researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk+12:
* (Re-sentencing) Bill
[HL]Imprisonment
for Public Protection (Re-sentencing) Bill [HL]
Amendment Proposed Change Amendment 1 Change “must” to “may” for establishing the expert advisory committee—shifting it from mandatory to permissive. Amendment 2 Limit resentencing to those on licence, excluding prisoners still in custody. Amendment 3 Restrict the remit to IPP prisoners who are 10+ years over tariff (Baroness Burt). Amendment 4 Specify that designated Crown Courts must handle resentencing to judicially reviewed standards. Amendment 5 Allow the court to confirm an IPP only if the offense meets current life-sentence threshold and the individual is considered high-risk. Amendment 6 Permit the court to impose an extended licence on release. Amendment 7 (Baroness Fox) Option for substituting an IPP with a hospital order for mentally disordered offenders. Amendments 8–10 Include clauses to: report on the Act’s impact; remove licence restrictions if recall is invalid; clarify definitions for juvenile IPP sentences.
These amendments are being carefully examined—some seek to tighten the bill’s scope, others aim to strengthen safeguards for both prisoners and the public.
Amendment | Proposed Change |
---|---|
Amendment 1 | Change “must” to “may” for establishing the expert advisory committee—shifting it from mandatory to permissive. |
Amendment 2 | Limit resentencing to those on licence, excluding prisoners still in custody. |
Amendment 3 | Restrict the remit to IPP prisoners who are 10+ years over tariff (Baroness Burt). |
Amendment 4 | Specify that designated Crown Courts must handle resentencing to judicially reviewed standards. |
Amendment 5 | Allow the court to confirm an IPP only if the offense meets current life-sentence threshold and the individual is considered high-risk. |
Amendment 6 | Permit the court to impose an extended licence on release. |
Amendment 7 (Baroness Fox) | Option for substituting an IPP with a hospital order for mentally disordered offenders. |
Amendments 8–10 | Include clauses to: report on the Act’s impact; remove licence restrictions if recall is invalid; clarify definitions for juvenile IPP sentences. |
2. Expected Timelines in Parliament
Committee Stage (Lords) – Currently underway; includes line-by-line scrutiny of the amendments.
Report Stage & Third Reading (Lords) – Likely to follow once Committee Stage concludes; no public date yet, but may occur in summer 2025.
Commons Stages – If passed in the Lords, the Bill will move to the Commons: First Reading, Second Reading, Committee, Report, Third Reading.
Royal Assent – Assuming passage in both Houses, the Bill could reach Royal Assent by autumn 2025, triggering the required 24‑month resentencing period.
Committee Stage (Lords) – Currently underway; includes line-by-line scrutiny of the amendments.
Report Stage & Third Reading (Lords) – Likely to follow once Committee Stage concludes; no public date yet, but may occur in summer 2025.
Commons Stages – If passed in the Lords, the Bill will move to the Commons: First Reading, Second Reading, Committee, Report, Third Reading.
Royal Assent – Assuming passage in both Houses, the Bill could reach Royal Assent by autumn 2025, triggering the required 24‑month resentencing period.
Summary up
Bill stage: House of Lords Committee Stage—critical period for shaping its impact.
Key amendments: Range from procedural tweaks to significant scope definitions and safeguards.
Timeline: Likely to progress to Report Stage and Commons in the coming months, with potential Royal Assent by late 2025.
Your action: Contact MPs and Peers, support or propose amendments that preserve universal resentencing, prevent re-sentencing inflation, and include appropriate safeguards.Your voice can make a real difference at this vital stage.
Bill stage: House of Lords Committee Stage—critical period for shaping its impact.
Key amendments: Range from procedural tweaks to significant scope definitions and safeguards.
Timeline: Likely to progress to Report Stage and Commons in the coming months, with potential Royal Assent by late 2025.
Your action: Contact MPs and Peers, support or propose amendments that preserve universal resentencing, prevent re-sentencing inflation, and include appropriate safeguards.Your voice can make a real difference at this vital stage.
Template Letter to MPs and Policymakers – Strategic and Emotional Appeal for IPP Reform
Your Name
Prison Number
Prison Name
Date
Dear MP/Peer/Decision-Maker’s Name,
I’m writing to you not just as a member of the public, but as someone who can no longer stay silent about the inhumanity of the IPP sentence and the way it continues to destroy lives, long after it was abolished.
Thousands of men and women remain in prison today, trapped under a sentence that Parliament itself has condemned. These are people who have served their time, some more than twice or three times their original tariff, and yet still have no guarantee of release. The system tells them they must show they are "safe" but fails to provide the tools, courses, or support to do so. That’s not justice. That’s entrapment.
The passage of William’s Bill offers one of the few glimmers of hope in this bleak landscape. It doesn’t call for blanket releases or reckless shortcuts it proposes a structured and responsible route out for those who have already paid their debt, by putting the onus on the Parole Board and system to act fairly and clearly.
Many of these prisoners are not dangerous. They are damaged. Damaged by the sentence. Damaged by years of indefinite imprisonment. Damaged by the very system that was meant to rehabilitate them. And yet they are still being punished for the state’s failure to fix the conditions of their release.
We must stop pretending this is working. The government’s rhetoric that these individuals remain too risky to release is out of touch with the reality inside our prisons:
Prisons are at breaking point, operating at nearly full capacity.
Basic legal visits are now being cancelled due to staff shortages.
Rehabilitation courses often a condition of release are unavailable or backlogged by years.
The trauma of indefinite imprisonment has caused a mental health crisis behind bars. Some have taken their own lives. Others live in constant fear that they may never leave.
So I ask you, with urgency and conviction:
Support William’s Bill and work to strengthen its provisions where needed.
Challenge the government’s narrative that these people are beyond help when it’s the system that has failed them.
Push for legal redress and resentencing options, so that no one is left serving a life sentence for a fixed-term offence.
These prisoners are not forgotten by their families, by campaigners, or by growing numbers of legal professionals. They are remembered, grieved for, and fought for every single day.
They deserve justice. They deserve hope. And above all, they deserve a release date.
Please don’t let this issue be passed to the next government, the next decade, or the next tragedy. The time to act is now.
Yours sincerely,
Your Full Name If applicable: Campaigner / Family member of IPP prisoner / Supporter of penal reform
Add your Contact Information
.........................................................................................................
Prison Number
Prison Name
Date
Prisons are at breaking point, operating at nearly full capacity.
Basic legal visits are now being cancelled due to staff shortages.
Rehabilitation courses often a condition of release are unavailable or backlogged by years.
The trauma of indefinite imprisonment has caused a mental health crisis behind bars. Some have taken their own lives. Others live in constant fear that they may never leave.
Support William’s Bill and work to strengthen its provisions where needed.
Challenge the government’s narrative that these people are beyond help when it’s the system that has failed them.
Push for legal redress and resentencing options, so that no one is left serving a life sentence for a fixed-term offence.
Your Full Name If applicable: Campaigner / Family member of IPP prisoner / Supporter of penal reform
Add your Contact Information
Template from a Family Member of an IPP Prisoner
Your Name
Prison Number
Prison Name
Date
Dear MP’s Name / Peer’s Name,
I am writing to you as a family
member of someone still imprisoned under the abolished IPP sentence. I live
every day knowing that someone I love has no idea when or if they will
ever come home.
They have served well beyond
their original tariff. In any just system, they would have been released years
ago. But instead, they are trapped in a sentence that was condemned as unjust
over a decade ago, and yet somehow continues to punish people in the shadows.
I’m asking you to support William’s
Bill, and to stand up against a government narrative that has left
thousands in a cruel limbo. These are not monsters. These are people fathers,
sons, daughters, mothers many of whom were sentenced for minor offences, and
most of whom have now served two, three, even five times their original tariff.
They are told they must prove
they are safe for release. But how can they, when the very system that makes
the rules is the same system that withholds the tools? Prisons are
overflowing. Courses aren’t running. Staff are stretched to breaking point.
Solicitors can’t even visit their clients before hearings. And still, the
Parole Board is told to wait for evidence of rehabilitation that the system
itself has no capacity to deliver.
This is not justice. It is
institutional cruelty. It is abandonment. And it is trauma for them, and for
every family who waits in silence and fear.
William’s Bill offers a measured
and principled path forward. It doesn't promise to release everyone. It simply
requires that if the system cannot show how a person will be released
within two years, then they must be. It gives a deadline to the
endlessness. It forces the system to take responsibility.
Please, help us end this. Help
bring our loved ones home.
With respect and urgency,
Your Full Name
Relationship, e.g. "Sister of an IPP prisoner serving 14 years beyond
tariff OR OTHER ….."
Your address/ Email
Template Support the progression of William’s BillYour Name
Prison Number
Prison Name
Date
Dear MP’s Name,
I am writing to ask that you actively support the progression of William’s Bill, currently at the Committee Stage in the House of Lords, and call for an urgent change in the Government’s approach to IPP (Imprisonment for Public Protection) sentences. The continued incarceration of thousands of individuals well beyond their original tariff is not only unjust but entirely unworkable under current conditions.
The IPP sentence was rightly abolished for new cases in 2012, yet thousands remain indefinitely imprisoned under its legacy many for minor offences, most having served far beyond their tariff, and with no clear route out. The system continues to punish people indefinitely for historic risk, not current behaviour, and places release conditions on them that the prison estate itself cannot meet.
Why William’s Bill Matters
William’s Bill proposes a fair and pragmatic approach: that the Parole Board should identify when an IPP prisoner is likely to be released within two years, and if they cannot be, clear and reasonable steps must be taken to progress them or else they must be released.
This approach:
- Respects public protection, by using the Parole Board’s discretion.
- Acknowledges the trauma and damage of prolonged, indefinite detention.
- Challenges the current hypocrisy, where release is blocked by rehabilitation courses that either don’t exist or are impossible to access.
- Restores confidence in justice by ensuring the state does not continue to hold people unfairly.
- A System at Breaking Point
The reality is that most prisons are operating at or near 100% capacity. Staff shortages are so severe that legal visits are being denied, hearings delayed, and rehabilitation programmes suspended. Yet IPP prisoners are still told that they must complete these unreachable goals to be considered safe for release. This is not a matter of personal risk it is a systemic failure.
Over 99% of IPP prisoners are now over-tariff. This is no longer about punishment or risk management it is about fear, inertia, and political avoidance.
The Moral and Legal Imperative
The public understands this injustice. The families live with its consequences every day. The Parole Board, the Sentencing Council, and countless independent voices have called for change. Now Parliament must act.
I ask you to:
- Support William’s Bill in principle and in detail.
- Challenge the Ministry of Justice to explain how they can continue to detain people without the means to support their progression.
- Push for proper investment in parole reform and resettlement, to ensure people are not just released, but supported to reintegrate.
This is not about being soft on crime. It is about being honest about justice, risk, and responsibility. It is time for the government to drop the failing rhetoric of “dangerousness” and replace it with fact-based, trauma-informed, and legally sound solutions.
Every day an IPP prisoner remains locked up beyond their tariff is another day that justice is denied.
Sincerely,
Your Full Name
Your Address / Email
Prison Number
Prison Name
Date
Your Full Name
Your Address / Email
................................................................................................................
*Disclaimer:
The template letters and guidance provided here are for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Please adapt them to your personal situation and consult a qualified legal professional before submitting any documents to the Parole Board or other authorities.