IPP BY NUMBERS
This section shares the latest figures released by the Ministry of Justice.
We think it is important to document the trends in the IPP sentence, which is why we present available data here. But we also feel strongly that each person serving the sentence matters. You can understand the context behind these figures by reading the stories in our media archive, or by visiting our Twitter platform, The Forgotten.
QUARTERLY - IMPRISONED IPP POPULATION
MARCH 2025
Total in Prison: 2,544
Unreleased - under tariff: 6
Unreleased, over tariff: 1,004
On recall: 1,532
DECEMBER 2024
Total in Prison: 2,614
Unreleased - under tariff: 8
Unreleased, over tariff: 1,035
On recall: 1,569
JUNE 2024
Total in Prison: 2,734
Unreleased - under tariff: 12
Unreleased, over tariff: 1,118
On recall: 1,602
ANNUAL - SELF HARM AND SUICIDE
2024
Self Harm Incidents: 1,576
Suicides: 4
2023
Self Harm Incidents: 1,988
Suicides: 9​
2022
Self Harm Incidents: 1,754
Suicides: 8
A MORE DETAILED LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
HOW MANY IPP SENTENCES WERE GIVEN OUT?
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8,711 people were given an IPP sentence between 2005 and 2013
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249 people who received the sentence were women (2.9%)
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326 people who received the sentence were children (3.7%)
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309 were aged 15-17 (10 were girls)
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16 were boys, aged 12-14
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One was a boy, aged 10-11
WHAT CRIMES WAS THE IPP SENTENCE GIVEN FOR?
Under law, IPP sentences could be given out for 153 specified offences. They were actually given out for 107 offences.
3045 were given for violent offences (35%)
2508 were given for sex offences (27.8%)
1882 were given for robbery offences (21.6%)
448 were given for fire setting offences (5.1%)
355 were given for other offences (4.1%)
232 were given for acquisitive offences (2.7%)
226 were given for weapons offences (2.6%)
11 were given for drug offences (0.1%)
Around 70 people were given an IPP sentence for offences where a life sentence is not available today, even as the maximum penalty.
WHAT HAPPENED TO PEOPLE SERVING AN IPP SENTENCE?
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​In March 2025, there were 1,012 people who have never been released since receiving the sentence.
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The sentence does not end upon release. People may still be recalled to prison indefinitely.
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The most common reason for recall is non-compliance of license conditions (44% of all recall incidents). 85% of all recalls were for no further offence.
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In March 2025, 60% of the currently imprisoned IPP population had been recalled to prison.
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99% of people serving an IPP sentence who had never been released from prison, were past their tariff expiry date.
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77% of those people had served more than 10 years longer than the tariff they were given.
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Of these, 177 had originally been given a tariff of less than two years. That’s 17% of the current unreleased IPP sentenced population who have served at least 13 years in prison for a crime that would normally attract a prison sentence of 2 years or less.
HOW HAS THE IPP SENTENCE AFFECTED PEOPLE?
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94 people have killed themselves in prison while serving an IPP sentence
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People serving an IPP sentence self-harm at a higher rate than people serving other types of life sentences
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Recurring themes in studies has shown those serving an IPP sentence suffer emotional anguish and despair that comes from uncertainty and lack of hope about release from prison
WHAT DON'T WE KNOW?
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We know that in 2021 there were another 283 people serving an IPP sentence in secure hospitals, bringing the total detained IPP population in June 2021 to 3,337. But this figure is not released regularly.
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We know that the number of people recalled to prison on IPP sentence is slowly dropping, but we don't know much about them, because the Ministry of Justice often conflates those recalled on IPP sentences with other people recalled on different sentences in their data.
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We don't know where around a quarter of people given an IPP sentence are now. We suspect that contributors to this dark figure are deportations, deaths in the community, and sentences that were overturned on appeal.
STATISTICS ARCHIVE
You can view regularly released information in the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly release (in the summary, and in tables 1_Q_14, 1_Q_15, 1_Q_17 and 1_Q_18).
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The Prison Reform Trust also produces a twice-yearly clear and accessible factfile, with up to date information on the IPP sentence, called the Bromley Briefing.