Prisoners: Sexual Offences
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners held on Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences have been convicted of sexual offences.
Answered by Ministry of Justice
The Ministry of Justice publishes routine data on prisoners serving Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences in custody, including information on their offence group, in the Offender Management Statistics publication.
The latest figures are available in Table 1.A.17 at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a69e0e116bc92f51e1a4310/prison-population-2026.ods.
Published figures show that, as of 30 June 2026, there were 379 unreleased prisoners serving an IPP sentence in custody whose index offence fell within the offence group of sexual offences.
On 1 September, the Lord Chancellor announced that the Government will bring an end to the sentence for those who continue to serve it and will bring forward legislation to do this by the end of this Parliament.
These are complex cases, involving important public protection and victim considerations. Reform will take time to get right.
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