Member

I turn now to Amendments 84 and 85, proposed by my noble friends Lord Blunkett and Lady Chakrabarti. IPP offenders can be recalled only for behaviour or breaches of their licence that are causally linked to their offending. In practice, this means where the public is at risk of further sexual or violent offending. This is a higher bar than those serving standard determinate sentences. At the point of recall, the controls available to the Probation Service are no longer sufficient to manage that risk to keep the public safe. Automatic release, before offenders have received the required support to reduce their risk, would put victims and the public at risk. Recalled IPP prisoners can be released where their detention is no longer necessary for the protection of the public. Many recalled IPP offenders have already been re-released under the RARR power introduced in the Victims and Prisoners Act, when they were due to wait for many months before their scheduled hearing before the Parole Board. Through the IPP action plan, HMPPS is considering all IPP offenders recalled for being out of touch, or in relation to allegations of further offences, for RARR. For cases where RARR is not appropriate, it is rightly for the independent Parole Board to decide whether it is safe to re-release an individual into the community.