Call on the Chair of the Justice Committee and the Lord Chancellor: Deliver Structural Reform, Redirect Funding Reallocation, and End the Harm of IPPs

Many who work in or advocate around the criminal justice system, including MPs, peers in the House of Lords, academics, and former inspectors, have echoed the same concern: there is no effective accountability, no proper mechanism for reform, and IPPs (Indeterminate Sentences for Public Protection) are one of the starkest examples of that failure. Our prisons are in a state of crisis : Our prisons are in a state of crisis.

There is a lack of Real Accountability. HMIP can only make recommendations  it has no enforcement powers.Prison governors and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) are under no legal obligation to implement them.There’s no independent body with power to sanction failures.

Data is Outdated or Obscured

Performance data is inconsistent, poorly analysed, and often lacks transparency. Key issues like mental health, self-harm, IPP prisoner progress are not tracked meaningfully. MoJ tends to control the narrative with selective or delayed release of data.

IPP Prisoners: A Systemic Failure. IPP sentences continue to trap people long past their tariff.Parole Board decisions are opaque, inconsistent, and deeply risk-averse.There is no pathway for release that prisoners or families can clearly understand or work towards.Politicians pass the blame, citing public parole independence.

So What Needs to Change?

Here’s a focused set of reforms practical but powerful that could form the backbone of advocacy:

Give HMIP Legal Power to Enforce Change. Make HMIP’s recommendations binding like the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in health.Enable follow-up inspections with real consequences if changes aren’t made (e.g., fines, leadership changes, court challenges).

Create a Prisons Accountability 

Commission An independent statutory body with oversight powers across prisons, parole, probation, and re offending. It should include representatives from affected groups (e.g. former prisoners, families, prison staff).Power to summon data, hold public inquiries, and initiate legal proceedings for human rights abuses.

Modernise Prison Data Systems

Mandate real-time data reporting on key indicators: violence, segregation, self-harm, mental health needs, progression. Disaggregate data by sentence type (e.g. IPP vs determinate), race, disability, etc.Create an open public dashboard, updated monthly, as used in education and healthcare.

IPP-Specific Action

Immediate re sentencing or statutory release framework for all remaining IPP prisoners.Parole reform: shift the burden of proof back to the state  i.e. presume release unless risk is proven.Create a dedicated IPP release unit with legal, psychological and housing support  independent of the MoJ. The government’s previous attempts to deal with the IPP crisis have failed. Prisoners remain stuck, over-tariff, with worsening mental health. The evidence is clear: Current  action plans and policies are not working.

Bureaucracy and institutional delay are smothering real action. That image of things being “drenched in red tape”

Previous government efforts to address the IPP crisis have been slow, fragmented, and ineffective. Reforms have become entangled in bureaucracy, with responsibility passed from one department to another, and meaningful progress lost in layers of red tape. Meanwhile, IPP prisoners remain over-tariff, their mental health deteriorating, with no pathway out.

The current performance system is based on security and budget not rehabilitation or humanity.Prisons should be judged on:Progression to release.Family engagement.Educational outcomes.Staff-to-prisoner ratio.Independent complaints resolution.Tie governor pay and contracts to actual improvement in these metrics.

Ensure Lived Experience Voices at Every Level.Formal involvement of families, ex-prisoners, and community groups in oversight, design, and reform not as an afterthought. IPP families especially must be included in parole policy, sentence reviews, and release planning.The current performance system is based on security and budget not rehabilitation or humanity.Prisons should be judged on:Progression to release.Family engagement.Educational outcomes. Staff-to-prisoner ratio.Independent complaints resolution.Tie governor pay and contracts to actual improvement in these metrics. improvements on mental health and outcomes.

Ensure Lived Experience Voices at Every Level

Formal involvement of families, ex-prisoners, and community groups in oversight, design, and reform  not as an after thought .IPP families especially must be included in parole policy, sentence reviews, and release planning with advocates if required.

The Truth?

The current system is not broken it was built this way: fragmented, secretive, risk-averse, and lacking any real democratic oversight. That’s why reform has to be systemic, not just incremental. 

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Re: Call for Parliamentary Inquiry into Prison Oversight Failures and the IPP Crisis

Dear [MP's Name],

I am writing to you with deep concern about the systemic failure of prison oversight mechanisms in England and Wales, and the ongoing injustice of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences  a crisis that continues to cause irreparable harm to thousands of individuals and families.

Our current prison accountability framework is not functioning. Oversight bodies such as His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) and Independent Monitoring Boards (IMBs) are under powered and increasingly ineffective. While HMIP continues to conduct inspections and publish important findings, their recommendations carry no legal force. IMBs, once intended to provide a direct line of community scrutiny, have seen their authority and resources diminish. Complaints go unresolved. Conditions deteriorate. Rehabilitation is forgotten.

This failure of accountability is compounded by a broken and outdated data infrastructure. Key performance information on mental health, use of force, segregation, IPP progression, and rehabilitation outcomes is often limited, delayed, or hidden entirely. There is no transparent or up-to-date prison performance framework accessible to Parliament, professionals, or the public. We cannot fix what we do not measure, and what we do not hold to account.

The IPP sentence regime remains a particularly urgent and shameful example of this failure. Over 1,200 people remain in prison beyond their original tariffs, often by many years. Many of them have no clear route to release, no pathway to progression, and face a Parole Board system that is opaque and excessively risk-averse. Families are left in limbo, and mental health deterioration is common. This is not justice it is indefinite punishment without recourse.

Despite clear awareness in Parliament  including from cross-party members of the House of Lords  we still have no effective mechanism for reform. Oversight bodies raise concerns, but they are powerless. The Ministry of Justice resists systemic scrutiny. Public confidence continues to erode. We urgently need a new model of accountability

 

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Your Name

Your Address or Organisation Name, optional
Email / Contact Info
Date

MP's Name
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA

Re: Call for Parliamentary Inquiry into Prison Oversight Failures and the IPP Crisis

Dear MP's Name,

I am writing to you with deep concern about the systemic failure of prison oversight mechanisms in England and Wales, and the ongoing injustice of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences  a crisis that continues to cause irreparable harm to thousands of individuals and families.

Our current prison accountability framework is not functioning. Oversight bodies such as His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) and Independent Monitoring Boards (IMBs) are underpowered and increasingly ineffective. While HMIP continues to conduct inspections and publish important findings, their recommendations carry no legal force. IMBs, once intended to provide a direct line of community scrutiny, have seen their authority and resources diminish. Complaints go unresolved. Conditions deteriorate. 

Rehabilitation is forgotten.This failure of accountability is compounded by a broken and outdated data infrastructure. Key performance information on mental health, use of force, segregation, IPP progression, and rehabilitation outcomes is often limited, delayed, or hidden entirely. There is no transparent or up-to-date prison performance framework accessible to Parliament, professionals, or the public. We cannot fix what we do not measure, and what we do not hold to account.

The IPP sentence regime remains a particularly urgent and shameful example of this failure. Over 1,200 people remain in prison beyond their original tariffs, often by many years. Many of them have no clear route to release, no pathway to progression, and face a Parole Board system that is opaque and excessively risk-averse. Families are left in limbo, and mental health deterioration is common. This is not justice  it is indefinite punishment without recourse.

Despite clear awareness in Parliament  including from cross-party members of the House of Lords  we still have no effective mechanism for reform. Oversight bodies raise concerns, but they are powerless. The Ministry of Justice resists systemic scrutiny. Public confidence continues to erode. We urgently need a new model of accountability.

I therefore ask that you:Support a full Parliamentary Inquiry into the failure of prison oversight mechanisms and the continued injustice of IPP sentencing.

1. Write to the Chair of the Justice Committee and the Lord Chancellor supporting this call.

2. Raise the issue in Parliament through a debate, oral question, or Early Day Motion.

3. Meet with affected families and campaigners to hear lived experiences and support solutions. enough still is not been done.

4. Push for structural reform to prison inspection and release systems, including:Giving HMIP statutory powers to enforce recommendations, similar to the Care Quality Commission;Creating a new, independent Prisons Accountability Commission with power to summon data, enforce action, and investigate failings;

5. Reforming the Parole Board framework for IPPs, including presumptive release and statutory time-served review;Mandating the regular publication of realtime prison performance data, including on progression, safety, and mental health;Supporting a process of re sentencing or statutory release for IPP prisoners still held beyond tariff.

6. The government says we don’t have money for IPP reform, for proper prison mental health services, or rehabilitation. Yet money is being spent in areas that demonstrate political priority, not public safety urgency. The resources are there  they’re just misdirected.

7. On Government Priorities and Resources. I recognise that reform comes with a financial cost  but this government is already spending large amounts of public money on other politically sensitive issues,  housing illegal aliens costing millions at our safety while those IPP with low risk are kept over tariff. little support in mental health doctors or facility even food.  housing asylum seekers in hotels and addressing their health and legal needs, yet many of those still serving IPP sentences have been asking for basic mental health support, progression pathways, and clarity on their sentence for over a decade and continue to be ignored.

   This is not about turning one vulnerable group against another. It's about misaligned priorities. We have the money  it’s just not reaching the parts of the justice system where lives are being lost, trauma is deepening, and the long-term damage to society is growing. Public protection is not served by holding thousands of people indefinitely without meaningful rehabilitation, progression, or hope.

These changes are not abstract. They will save lives. They will restore faith in our justice system. And they will correct a long-standing and widely acknowledged injustice  one that no civilised society should tolerate.

I am part of a growing community of families, legal professionals, campaigners, and former prisoners who are asking you and your colleagues to act. We are not asking for political point-scoring  we are asking for courage, leadership, and meaningful reform.

Please let me know if you would be willing to meet to discuss this further. I am happy to provide additional evidence, case studies, or connect you with those directly affected.

Thank you for your time and for your commitment to justice.

Yours sincerely,
Your Full Name

Article Our prisons are in a state of crisis : Our prisons are in a state of crisis.