Offender management statistics bulletin: January to March 2016 with prison population as at 30 June 2016
Source: data.gov.uk (2018-05-25)

Offender Management Statistics. Key statistics relating to offenders who are in prison or under Probation Service supervision.

It covers flows into these services (receptions into prison or probation starts) and flows out (discharges from prison or probation terminations) as well as the caseload of both services at specific points in time.

Offender Management Statistics 
Bulletin,  
England and Wales 
 
Quarterly January to March 2016 with 
Prison Population as at 30 June 2016 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ministry of Justice 
Statistical Bulletin 
 
 
 
28 July 2016 
 

 
 
1 
 
Contents 
 
Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 2 
Key Findings ......................................................................................................................... 3 
Prison population .................................................................................................................. 4 
Prison receptions .................................................................................................................. 8 
Adjudications ...................................................................................................................... 10 
Prison releases ................................................................................................................... 11 
Probation ............................................................................................................................ 13 
Licence recalls .................................................................................................................... 15 
Annex 1: Release of Indeterminate Sentenced Prisoners from open and closed prison 
conditions, 2013 – 2015 ...................................................................................................... 17 
Contact points ..................................................................................................................... 21 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
2 
 
Introduction 
This bulletin provides the latest statistics relating to offenders who are in prison or 
supervised in the community in England and Wales. The statistics are presented in detail, 
with commentary, and with reference to longer term trends. 
 
The bulletin covers the prison population as at 30 June 2016 and the probation caseload as 
at 31 March 2016, and compares them to the same time in the previous year. 
 
This bulletin also covers prison receptions and probation starts, as the flows into these 
services, and releases from prison and probation terminations, as the flows out of these 
services. For each of these topics the bulletin reports on the quarter January to March 2016, 
compared to the same period in the previous year. 
  
Due to improvements in IT, statistics on prison receptions, releases and adjudications 
changed to a new data source in the last quarter of 2015. The changes that were 
implemented are set out in 'Changes to Offender Management Statistics: quarterly and 
annual editions', which was published on 28 April 2016, and available online at: 
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/519440/offend
er-management-statistics-changes.pdf 
 
Further information about background, data definitions and measurements and data quality 
issues can be found in the ‘Guide to Offender Management Statistics’. 
 
The next edition of this bulletin, covering the period April to June 2016, with prison 
population figures as at 30 September 2016, will be published on 27 October 2016 at 
9.30am. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
3 
 
Key Findings  
 
The total prison population decreased by 1% over the twelve months to 30 June 2016, 
with a decrease of just over 1,000 prisoners. However the sentenced population 
increased by 2%. 
 
 
The sentenced prison population continues to shift towards a population serving longer 
determinate sentences. The number of prisoners serving determinate sentences of four 
years or more continued to increase. Prisoners serving a determinate sentence of ten 
years or more now account for 9% of the total prison population. 
 
 
Sentenced admissions for determinate sentences decreased over the last year, which 
was driven by a fall in the number of prisoners given sentence lengths of less than 12 
months. Prison releases from determinate sentences increased slightly (1%), largely 
attributable to an increase in releases from sentences of less than or equal to 6 months. 
 
 
There were around 41,000 adjudication outcomes in the quarter ending March 2016. Of 
these, proven adjudications accounted for 67%, with the largest proportion (25%) being 
for offences of disobedience or disrespect.  
 
 
The number of releases on temporary licence (ROTL) in the first quarter of 2016 fell by 
14% when compared to the same quarter the previous year. The temporary release 
failure rate stayed at the same level when compared to the same quarter in the previous 
year. HDC releases increased by 4% between the quarters ending March 2015 and 
March 2016. This was largely driven by the increase in the number of HDC releases for 
those serving sentences of less than or equal to 6 months. 
 
 
The Offender Rehabilitation Act (ORA) 2014 expanded licence supervision so that 
anyone sentenced to more than a day in prison will receive at least 12 months 
supervision on release. This continues to have the effect of increasing both the probation 
caseload and the number of offenders recalled, to the end of March 2016. 
 
 
The total probation caseload stood at around 251,000 at the end of March 2016, up 13% 
on the end of March 2015. The court order caseload (offenders on community orders 
(COs) and suspended sentence order (SSOs)) rose by 5%, with the CO caseload rising 
3% but the SSO caseload rising by 10% between the quarters ending March 2015 and 
2016. 
 
 
Around 5,200 offenders were recalled to custody between January and March 2016. 
Almost 1,800 of these were serving a sentence of less than 12 months; this group only 
become eligible for recall as a result of the ORA. 
 
 
The proportion of offenders not returned to custody by the end of March 2016, following 
a licence recall over the whole period 1999 to the end of March 2016, remained stable 
with only 6 in every 1,000 prisoners not being returned to custody. 

 
 
4 
 
Prison population 
 
Comparing 30 June 2016 with the same period the previous year: 
 
The prison population decreased by just over 1,000 (1%).  
 
The sentenced population has increased by 2%.  
 
There has been a 21% drop in the remand population. The numbers of those on 
remand has been decreasing since the start of 2015.  
 
The non-criminal population has dropped by 13%. This may reflect changes in the 
National Offender Management Service (NOMS)-operated Immigration Removal 
Centre estate, including the decommissioning of detention places at Dover IRC from 
November 2015. 
 
 
Figure 1: Quarterly prison population and annual percentage change, England and 
Wales, June 1996 to June 2016 
The ‘Story of the Prison Population 1993 to 2016’ provides an in-depth look at what 
happened to the prison population between 1993 and 2016 and the major factors 
contributing to the changes. Figure 1 presents an overview of the prison population 
since 1996, including the annual percentage change by quarter.  
-6.0%
-4.0%
-2.0%
0.0%
2.0%
4.0%
6.0%
8.0%
10.0%
12.0%
14.0%
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
80,000
90,000
100,000
Jun
1996
Jun
1997
Jun
1998
Jun
1999
Jun
2000
Jun
2001
Jun
2002
Jun
2003
Jun
2004
Jun
2005
Jun
2006
Jun
2007
Jun
2008
Jun
2009
Jun
2010
Jun
2011
Jun
2012
Jun
2013
Jun
2014
Jun
2015
Jun
2016
Percentage change
Prison population
Prison population
Change in end of quarter prison population 
compared with the same period the previous 
year

 
 
5 
 
Remand 
As at 30 June 2016, 9,288 prisoners were on remand. Since early 2015, the remand 
population has been steadily decreasing. This is consistent with the decreasing number of 
outstanding cases for the Crown Court (see Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly). 
As at 30 June 2016: 
 
There were 8,764 males and 524 females remanded in custody; these represent 
decreases of 21% and 16% respectively, compared to 30 June 2015. 
 
More than half (54%) of those remanded in custody were being held for either: 
o Violence Against the Person (21% of those on remand)  
o Theft Offences (16%)  
o Drug Offences (16%)  
This is broadly unchanged compared to 30 June 2015, when it was 53%. 
 
Sentenced 
Comparing 30 June 2016 with the same period in 2015: 
 
In line with the long term trend, the sentenced population increased slightly (by 2%).  
 
The number of prisoners serving sentences of less than four years remained stable 
at just less than 25,000. 
Longer determinate sentences 
 
There was a 6% increase in the number of those serving determinate sentences of 
four years or more. This group of offenders now accounts for 36% of the total prison 
population (up from 33% at 30 June 2015). 
 
Extended Determinate Sentence (EDS) 
Much of this increase is attributable to the expanding population serving an extended 
determinate sentence (EDS) – there has been a 50% increase over the last 12 months. 
As at 30 June 2016, nearly 3,000 (2,949) prisoners were serving an EDS. 
Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 
A small part of this increase is also due to legislative change implemented by the 
Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 which saw a new type of determinate sentence, 
the Special Custodial Sentence for Certain Offenders of Particular Concern (Section 
236A), introduced for the most serious violent and sexual offenders.  
This was made available for courts to impose from 13 April 2015 and as at 30 June 
2016, 135 prisoners were serving such sentences; this has more than doubled 
compared to the last quarter (there were 52 as at 31 March 2016). 

 
 
6 
 
 
As at 30 June 2016, more than 8,000 (8,078) prisoners were serving determinate 
sentences of ten years or more, excluding EDSs. This is an 8% increase on the 
same point the previous year. 
Sex Offenders 
 
The rise in the long determinate sentenced population is in line with the increasing number 
of sentenced sex offenders: 
 
 
At the end of June 2016, there were more than 12,500 sentenced sex offenders in 
the prison population. This number has risen by 9% over the past twelve months. 
 
The number of prisoners serving immediate custodial sentences for sexual offences 
is now at its highest level. This is consistent with the latest ONS ‘Crime in England 
and Wales’ bulletin that reported the number of sexual offences recorded by the 
police in the year ending December 2015 was the highest since at least 2002/03. 
‘Violence Against the Person’ and ‘Possession of Weapons’ offences 
 
One in every four sentenced prisoners is in prison for a ‘Violence Against the Person’ 
(VATP) offence: 
 
Though there has been a 2% increase in the number of sentenced VATP offenders in 
the year to 30 June 2016; this ‘1 in 4’ proportion has remained unchanged over the 
past twelve months. VATP offenders continue to be the largest group within the 
sentenced prison population. 
The number of those sentenced to a ‘Possession of Weapons’ offence increased by 22% 
compared to the same time last year:  
 
This substantial increase can be attributed to a range of factors, including targeted 
police operations against knife crime during 2015. 
 
Despite this large percentage increase compared to last year, sentenced ‘Possession 
of Weapons’ offenders still make up less than 3% of the sentenced prison population. 
Indeterminate Sentences 
 
 
As at the end of June 2016, there were 11,359 (10,992 male; 367 female) 
indeterminate sentenced prisoners (those serving Imprisonment for Public Protection 
(IPP) sentences and life sentences) in the prison population. This represents a drop 
of 6% compared to June 2015. 
 
 
There were fewer than 4,000 (3,998) IPP prisoners as at 30 June 2016. This 
represents a drop of 34% since the June 2012 peak of 6,080. Over the last twelve 
months alone, the IPP population has reduced by more than 600 (13%). 
 
The proportion of the IPP population who are post-tariff continues to increase; 82% of 
IPP prisoners are now post-tariff compared to 77% this time last year. 
As a result of the abolition of the IPP sentence in 2012, offenders are no longer receiving 
these sentences and prisoners are only being released or recalled. Consequently, the 
decrease in the indeterminate sentenced population can be explained almost entirely by 
the declining IPP population. 

 
 
7 
 
 
The number of life sentenced prisoners (7,361) has dropped slightly (by 1%) 
compared to June 2015. There were 53 whole-life prisoners at the end of June 2016, 
with six additional life prisoners being treated in secure hospitals. 
Recall to Custody 
The prison population who have been recalled to custody continues to rise; by 7% over the 
year to 6,617 prisoners. This may be one of the reasons behind the slight increase in the 
sentenced prison population.  
 
 
As at 30 June 2016, there were 885 prisoners recorded as being recalled to custody from 
licence as a result of ORA; representing 13% of the total recall population. Over time, the 
numbers of released IPP prisoners recalled to custody has also increased slightly, which 
may also be a contributing factor. 
 
Foreign National Offenders 
The foreign national population held in custody and NOMS-operated IRCs remained just 
below 10,000 offenders (9,891) as at 30 June 2016. This represents a decrease of 6% 
compared to 30 June 2015.  
This is due mainly to the withdrawal of Home Office commissioned places at Dover IRC in 
November 2015. The foreign national population, however, still represents just under 12% of 
the total prison population. 
The five most common nationalities after British Nationals in prisons in England and Wales 
are Polish, Irish, Romanian, Jamaican and Albanian, together accounting for approximately 
one third (35%) of the foreign national population and 1 in 25 (4%) of the prison population 
overall. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A combination of factors may be driving this growth in the recalled population. The 
Offender Rehabilitation Act (ORA) 2014 expanded licence supervision so that anyone 
sentenced to more than a day in prison will receive at least 12 months supervision on 
release. These individuals are therefore eligible to be recalled to custody, whereas 
previously this was not the case.  

 
 
8 
 
Prison receptions 
For the purposes of Offender Management Statistics, to aid users with the understanding of 
prison receptions data, the term “first reception” will be reserved for describing unique 
individuals that are first received into prison custody from court for a particular set of 
offences committed. This will give the best indication of the number of new prisoners in the 
reporting period. The term “admission” will be used to describe counts of individuals that 
either enter custody or who have a change in their custody status in the reporting period.  
 
A prisoner's admission type is counted as untried, convicted unsentenced, and sentenced 
each time they are first classified according to their custody status following a court hearing. 
Recall admissions count every instance a prisoner is first received into custody following a 
licence recall issued from a probation supervising body. This means that prisoners can be 
counted in more than one of these admission categories if their custody status changes as 
they progress through the Criminal Justice System in the reporting period. Further details of 
the terminology and counting procedures used to report prison receptions can be found in 
the ‘Guide to Offender Management Statistics’ published alongside this bulletin. 
 
 
Summary of quarterly statistics 
 
A total of 22,100 offenders were received into custody as first receptions in the 
quarter ending March 2016, representing a fall of 10% on the same quarter in the 
previous year. 
 
 
There was a 16% fall in untried admissions and a 10% fall in convicted unsentenced 
admissions when compared to the same quarter last year. There was a smaller 4% 
decrease in the number of sentenced admissions. This continues the trend of 
decreases in all categories of admissions which have been observed in previous 
quarters. 
 
 
Young adults (18-20 years old) admissions have fallen considerably when compared 
to other age groups. Sentenced admissions fell by 8%, untried admissions fell by 
23% and convicted unsentenced fell by 14% from the same quarter in the previous 
year. 
 
 
The decline in sentenced admissions has been driven by an 8% fall in admissions of 
those serving custodial sentences of less than 12 months and more than 10 years 
when compared to the same quarter last year. However prisoners admitted into 
custody with extended determinate sentences increased by 18% over the same 
period. 
 
 
Sentenced admissions for violence against the person and sexual offences remained 
stable when compared to the same quarter in the previous year. The number of 
individuals serving immediate custodial sentences for these offences increased by 
2% and 9% respectively in the prison population. 
 
 
 

 
 
9 
 
 
Former Members of the Armed Forces 
In December 2014, the Government published a response to the review of ex-armed forces 
in the criminal justice system. In line with recommendation 2, NOMS have been recording 
whether remand and newly sentenced prisoners self-report as a member of the armed 
services on first reception into prison through the Basic Custody Screening Tool (BCST). 
Those individuals who are matched in both the BCST and appear as a first prison reception 
through the Prison-NOMIS system are taken forward as a cohort for these statistics.  
Former members of the armed forces accounted for 638 of the matched first receptions for 
the period January to March 2016. This accounts for approximately 4% of offenders who 
responded to the question asked, which has been at the same level for the two previous 
quarters. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
10 
 
Adjudications 
An adjudication is a formal disciplinary process within the prison estate and applies when a 
prisoner is suspected of committing an offence. Once an offence has been committed, an 
adjudication hearing must be opened for a decision to be made before a Governor or an 
Independent Adjudicator (depending on the seriousness of the offence). As in criminal 
courts, the standard of proof that must be met before a prisoner can be found guilty is 
“beyond reasonable doubt”. If the charge against the prisoner is proved, the adjudicator 
should consider the appropriate punishment(s) taking into account the seriousness of the 
offence, the local punishment guidelines and any mitigation the prisoner may offer. This 
process will result in recording the outcome of the adjudication as proven. 
As a result of improvements to IT and resultant changes in methodology, statistics on 
adjudications have changed. This means that the information is now available on a quarterly 
basis with figures covering the first quarter of 2016.   
The total number of offences committed in prison that underwent an adjudication in the 
quarter ending March 2016 was 41,012 of which 67% were proven and the most common 
offence type was, offences of disobedience or disrespect, 37%. 
In terms of punishments, the total number of additional days added stood at 3,674 in the 
quarter ending March 2016. The average number of punishments per offence was 1.73. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
11 
 
Prison releases 
Prison releases from custodial sentences 
For the purposes of Offender Management Statistics, the figures described for prison 
releases are a specific type of release which provide the best indication of the number of 
prisoners that have finished serving the custodial terms of their sentence. Further details of 
the counting procedures used to report prison releases can be found in the ‘Guide to 
Offender Management Statistics’ published alongside this bulletin.  
 
 
A total of 17,923 offenders were released from custody in the quarter ending March 
2016, a rise of 1% compared with the same quarter last year. This is largely 
attributable to an increase in releases from sentences of less than or equal to 6 
months. 
 
 
There has been a drop of 4% in the number of prisoners released from indeterminate 
sentences, when compared to the same quarter last year. Between January and 
March 2016, 147 prisoners were released from an Imprisonment for Public Protection 
(IPP) sentence and a further 86 were released from a life sentence. 
 
 
Of the prisoners released from indeterminate sentences, 16 were removed under the 
Tariff Expired Removal Scheme (TERS) in the latest quarter. This scheme allows 
indeterminate sentenced foreign national prisoners, who are liable for removal from 
the UK, to be deported from the country on or after the date of their tariff expiry 
without referral to the Parole Board. The scheme began in May 2012, and there had 
been 364 removals in total by the end of March 2016. 
 
Home Detention Curfew 
Home Detention Curfew (HDC) allows for the early release of suitable, low risk offenders 
subject to an electronically monitored curfew. To be considered for release under HDC an 
offender must be serving a sentence of between 12 weeks and less than 4 years.  
 
 
The number of offenders released on HDC increased by 4% to 2,133 between the 
quarters ending March 2015 and March 2016. This increase has been largely driven 
by a 27% increase in the number of HDC releases for those serving sentences of 
less than or equal to 6 months. This increase has occurred despite the prison 
population serving such sentences remaining relatively stable in the most recent 
year. 
 
Releases on temporary licence 
Release on temporary licence (ROTL) is a mechanism that enables prisoners to participate 
in necessary activities, outside of the prison establishment, that directly contribute to their 
resettlement into the community and their development of a purposeful, law-abiding life.  
 

 
 
12 
 
 
Between January and March 2016, there were 76,407 incidences of ROTL from 
prisons in England and Wales. This is a 14% reduction since the same period in 
2015; all types of licence showed decreases except for Childcare Resettlement 
Licences which increased marginally. The number of ROTL incidences for females 
increased by 8%, compared to a 16% decrease for males over the same period. 
 
 
The number of individuals given at least one instance of ROTL between January and 
March 2016 was 3,546, which represents a 10% decrease over the year. Of the 
individuals given at least one instance of ROTL, 21% were serving an indeterminate 
sentence.  
 
 
The number of recorded temporary release failures (TRFs) between January and 
March 2016 was 32, which is equivalent to the number of failures observed in the 
same quarter of the previous year and lower than the preceding three quarters. 
However, TRFs as a proportion of temporary release incidences has increased 
compared to January to March 2015, from 18 failures per 100,000 incidences of 
release to 42 in January to March 2016.  
 
 
Prisoner transfers 
A prisoner may be transferred to another establishment for a variety of reasons including 
overcrowding drafts necessitated by operational needs, or a change in the prisoners’ 
security status which results in a movement to an alternative category prison. The figures for 
prisoner transfers relate to prison transfers between establishments in England and Wales, 
excluding NOMS operated Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs).  
 
During the period January to March 2016, there were a total of 23,920 incidences of prisoner 
transfer, with a substantial amount (68%) being recorded as routine inter-prison transfers 
whilst 540 (2%) incidences of transfer were a result of overcrowding drafts. Further, 19,289 
prisoners had at least one incidence of transfer in quarter ending March 2016. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
13 
 
Probation 
Transforming Rehabilitation is a reform programme that is changing the way offenders are 
managed in the community. On 1st June 2014, Probation Trusts were replaced by the 
National Probation Service (NPS), which manages the most high-risk offenders across 
seven divisions; and 21 new Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs), who manage 
medium and low-risk offenders.  
 
The total annual probation caseload (court orders and pre and post release supervision) 
increased by 39% between 2000 and 2008 to 243,434. Since then the probation caseload 
fell year on year, reaching 217,359 at the end of 2014. However, at the end of March 2016, 
the total caseload stood at 251,170, up 13% on the number one year earlier. This recent rise 
is largely due to statutory supervision on release from prison for all offenders given custodial 
sentences. 
 
Figure 2:  Number of offenders under Probation Service supervision at end of 
December 2006-2015 and end of March 2016 
 
The court order caseload rose by 5%, with the Community Order caseload rising by 3% and 
the Suspended Sentence Order (SSO) caseload rising by 10% between the quarters ending 
March 2015 and 2016. The increase in SSOs is likely to be related to changes under the 
LASPO Act 2012, which provided for custodial sentences of two years or less to be 
suspended where previously only custodial sentences of 12 months or less could be 
suspended. The number of offenders starting Community Orders fell by 6% over this period, 
while starts of SSOs with requirements fell by 2%. 
 
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Year
Number of offenders
Community sentences
Suspended sentences
Pre-release supervision
Post-release supervision

 
 
14 
 
In addition, in the quarter ending March 2016 there were 3,034 (an increase of 27%) starts of 
SSOs without requirements attached. This brings the total number of stand-alone SSO starts 
to more than 24,000 since they were introduced under the LASPO Act 2012 (see Guide to 
Offender Management Statistics). 
 
The caseload of offenders supervised before or after release from prison increased by 24% 
between the quarters ending March 2015 and 2016, whilst the number of pre-release 
supervision starts increased by 50%, rising from 17,243 to 25,797. This is due to the 
introduction of the Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014 (ORA) on 1st February 2015, where all 
offenders given custodial sentences are now subject to statutory supervision on release from 
prison. Previously only adults sentenced to over 12 months in custody and all young 
offenders were subject to statutory supervision. The caseload of offenders supervised on 
post release alone increased by 62% between the quarters ending March 2015 and 2016. 
 
ORA also made provision for those sentenced to under 2 years in custody to receive a 
period of 'post sentence' supervision after their licence expires to make sure they get 12 
months supervision in the community. If this period is breached, the offender can be taken 
back to court and given a supervision default order to be served in the community or 
committed to prison for up to 14 days. In the quarter ending March 2016, 108 offenders were 
given a supervision default order and 106 were committed to prison for such a breach. 
 
With regards to the number of requirements started under court orders, there has again 
been a rise in standalone curfews, and in standalone unpaid work given under SSOs. This 
may reflect the continuing impact of a mandatory punitive requirement in every court order, 
introduced from December 2013 under the Crime and Courts Act 2013. There have 
generally been falls across the other requirements, with the supervision requirement in 
particular being replaced by the rehabilitation requirement introduced under ORA. 
 
Of the court orders terminated in the quarter ending March 2016, 71% of community orders 
were terminated successfully; they either ran their full course or were terminated early for 
good progress. For the supervision periods of suspended sentence orders, 70% were also 
terminated successfully over this period. 
 
The number of court reports prepared by the Probation Service fell by 25% between 2010 
and 2015 to 159,278, reflecting the long-term downward trend in the number of cases being 
dealt with by the courts. However, the volume of court reports increased by 1% between the 
quarters ending March 2015 and 2016, rising from 39,684 to 40,067.  
 
In general, courts follow the sentences proposed in pre-sentence reports (PSRs), particularly 
where an immediate custodial sentence has been recommended. Around 77% of such 
proposed sentences in PSRs resulted in immediate custody in the latest 12 month period. 
 

 
 
15 
 
Licence recalls 
A key element of public protection is that offenders released on licence should be effectively 
supervised in the community and swiftly recalled to custody if they breach their licence or if 
their behaviour gives cause for concern. It is explained to offenders at the outset that they 
are liable to be recalled to custody if they breach any of the conditions of their licence. There 
are various reasons why offenders are recalled to custody for breaching their licence 
conditions, besides committing a further offence. For example, an offender may be recalled if 
there is any deterioration in behaviour which leads NOMS to conclude that there is an 
increased risk of the offender committing further offences. 
 
Between April 1999 and March 2016, 213,126 of those released on licence were recalled to 
custody for breaching the conditions of their licence, e.g. failing to report to their probation 
officer. Of all those recalled over this period, 99.4% were returned to custody by the end of 
June 2016. 
 
In the period between January and March 2016, 5,185 offenders were recalled for breaching 
the conditions of their licence, representing an increase of 22% compared to the same 
period in 2015. This is entirely due to the implementation of the Offender Rehabilitation Act 
(ORA) 2014, which expanded licence supervision so that anyone sentenced to more than a 
day in prison will receive at least 12 months supervision on release. This came into effect for 
those sentenced from 1 February 2015. Of these 5,185 licence recalls, 1,761 were for 
offenders serving a sentence of less than 12 months. Without these, recalls would have 
fallen by 17% compared with January to March 2015. 
 
The most common reason for offenders being recalled between January and March 2016 
was as a result of being charged with a further offence, with 46% of recalls having a further 
charge recorded as one of the reasons for recall. This was broadly similar across sentence 
types, ranging from 39% for those recalled from a life sentence to 50% for those recalled 
from a sentence of imprisonment for public protection (IPP). 
 
Numbers of indeterminate recall re-releases are being published for the first time this 
quarter. Between January and March 2016 there were 50 prisoners serving an IPP sentence 
and 43 offenders serving a life sentence who were re-released having previously been 
returned to custody for a breach of licence conditions. 
 
Of all those released on licence and recalled to custody due to breaching the conditions of 
their licence between April 1999 and March 2016, there were 1,323 who had not been 
returned to custody by the end of June 2016. This means the proportion of prisoners not 
returned to custody over this period is 0.6%, which is constant compared to previous years.  
A further 18 offenders had not been returned to custody as of 30 June 2016 after recall 

 
 
16 
 
between 1984 and April 1999, meaning the total number of offenders not returned to custody 
at the end of June 2016 was 1,341. These figures include some offenders believed to be 
dead or living abroad but who have not been confirmed as dead or deported. 
Of the 1,341 not returned to custody by 30 June 2016, 177 had originally been serving a 
prison sentence for violence against the person offences and a further 42 for sexual 
offences. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
17 
 
Annex 1: Release of Indeterminate Sentenced Prisoners 
from open and closed prison conditions, 2013 – 2015 
 
 
Introduction 
 
Due to recent interest, particularly in terms of ongoing Judicial Review proceedings, this 
edition of OMSQ includes additional information on the release of indeterminate sentenced 
prisoners (ISPs) from open and closed prison conditions. 
 
ISPs are those sentenced to either life imprisonment or a sentence of Imprisonment for 
Public Protection (IPP). ISPs have no automatic right to be released. Instead, such prisoners 
must serve a minimum period known as the tariff before they may be considered for 
suitability for release by the independent Parole Board. The Board will only decide to release 
if it is satisfied that the risks posed by the prisoner can be safely managed in the community 
on licence. 
 
ISPs progress through their sentences via a series of progressive moves through different 
types of prison. Closed prisons offer a higher level of security and ISPs will always begin 
serving their sentences in closed conditions. Prisoners may be approved for transfer to open 
conditions if they are assessed as requiring a period of time in conditions that are closer to 
that of the community. It is not mandatory that prisoners spend time in an open prison and 
release can take place from closed conditions.  
 
ISPs may be approved for a progressive move to open conditions up to 3 years before tariff 
expiry. Such moves are a decision for officials on behalf of the Justice Secretary and often 
involve consideration of a recommendation made by the Parole Board.  
 
Providing prisoners’ identified risks are considered to have been adequately addressed so 
that they may be safely managed in the community on licence, the Parole Board may 
choose to release them from either closed or open conditions depending on the particulars 
of individual cases. While there may be cases where prisoners are able to be released 
directly from closed prisons, others will need to spend time in open conditions in order to 
evidence that they are suitable for release. In taking the release decision, all evidence 
gained from activity and behaviour in custody which contributes to the reduction of risks 
presented by the individual are taken into account. 
 
This publication presents information on the proportion of ISPs who were released from 
open and closed conditions in the years 2013 to 2015 and the time that those who were 
released from open conditions had spent in open conditions prior to release. 

 
 
18 
 
 
Key Points 
 
There has been an increase over time in the proportion of ISPs released from closed 
prison conditions. In 2013, 27% of released ISPs were released from closed 
conditions, compared with 52% in 2015. 
 
The majority of ISPs released from open prison conditions in each year from 2013-
2015 were released within two years of having been granted a move to open 
conditions and therefore would have spent less than two years in open conditions 
prior to release. 
 
Releases from open and closed conditions 
Over the years 2013 to 2015, between 27% and 52% of ISPs were released directly from 
closed conditions, with this proportion increasing over time. The proportion released from 
closed conditions has been consistently highest for those serving an IPP sentence and 
lowest for those serving a Mandatory Life sentence although all sentence types have seen 
an increase in the proportion of prisoners released from closed conditions over time (see 
Figure 1). 
 
Figure 1: ISP first releases by sentence type and conditions released from, 2013-2015. 
 
 
Time in open conditions 
2013
2014
2015
2013
2014
2015
Closed
164
160
277
38%
42%
59%
Open
267
225
192
62%
58%
41%
Not applicable
43
37
47
Closed
23
20
65
11%
15%
35%
Open
187
115
121
89%
85%
65%
Not applicable
14
12
27
Closed
19
28
47
17%
30%
48%
Open
91
65
50
83%
70%
52%
Not applicable
11
11
11
Closed
206
208
389
27%
34%
52%
Open
545
405
363
73%
66%
48%
Not applicable
68
60
85
Sentence Type
Conditions released from
IPP
Other Life
Percentages
Numbers
3. Data are subject to revision and have been drawn from a live administrative IT system which, as with any large scale 
recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. Additional analysis has been carried out to verify 
these figures which indicates that the percentages presented here can be considered accurate to within around 3 percentage 
points.
2. 'Not applicable' includes prisoners released from prison outside England & Wales, prisoners released from hospital, deported 
prisoners, prisoners released from establishments with both open and closed conditions and prisoners whose location of release 
could not be established.
Mandatory Life
All ISPs
1. Percentages are calculated as a proportion of releases from Closed and Open conditions only. Releases from the category 'Not 
applicable' are not included.

 
 
19 
 
For the years 2013 to 2015, the majority of ISPs released from open conditions had been in 
open conditions for under two years (see Figure 2). This was most likely to be the case for 
IPPs, for whom 79% were released from open conditions within two years of being granted a 
move to open in both 2013 and 2014. Although this proportion fell to 68% in 2015, it still 
represents the majority of IPP releases from open conditions. 
 
These figures have been compiled by matching a dataset of releases from open conditions 
in these three years to a dataset of open move acceptances from 2010 onwards. Data on 
open acceptances was not centrally recorded prior to this, which may be a reason for a 
larger proportion of unknown cases in earlier years. It is therefore likely that those in the 
‘Unknown’ category of Figure 2 had spent at least two years in open conditions. 
 
As these figures are based on the date that a move to open conditions was granted, they do 
not correspond exactly to the time that a prisoner spent in open conditions before release. A 
move to open conditions can only take place after a move has been granted and therefore 
the actual time spent in open conditions will be less than that measured using this method. 
This means that the percentage of ISPs who were released within two years of actually 
moving to open conditions is likely to be higher than that shown in the ‘Under 2 years’ 
category of Figure 2.  
 
Figure 2: ISP first releases from open conditions by sentence type and time since a move to 
open was last granted, 2013-2015. 
 
 
 
2013
2014
2015
2013
2014
2015
Under 2 years
211
177
131
79%
79%
68%
2 years or more
34
32
57
13%
14%
30%
Unknown
22
16
4
8%
7%
2%
Under 2 years
52
41
25
57%
63%
50%
2 years or more
29
18
21
32%
28%
42%
Unknown
10
6
4
11%
9%
8%
Under 2 years
76
50
43
41%
43%
36%
2 years or more
80
49
62
43%
43%
51%
Unknown
31
16
16
17%
14%
13%
Under 2 years
339
268
199
62%
66%
55%
2 years or more
143
99
140
26%
24%
39%
Unknown
63
38
24
12%
9%
7%
Mandatory Life
Sentence Type
Time since move to open 
conditions granted
Numbers
Percentages
IPP
Other Life
All ISPs
1. These figures have been calculated by matching a dataset of releases from open conditions in the period 2013-2015 to a 
dataset of acceptances of moves to open conditions from 2010 onwards. Prior to this, acceptances of moves to open conditions 
were not recorded in central systems.
2. 'Unknown' includes cases where a release record could not be matched to a corresponding record of a move to open 
conditions being granted. Some of these may be cases where the move to open conditions was granted before 2010.
3. Data are subject to revision and have been drawn from a live administrative IT system which, as with any large scale 
recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. 

 
 
20 
 
Data Quality and Limitations 
There are a number of issues for users to be aware of when considering this information:  
 
The data has been extracted from a live administrative database and as such the 
information is subject to revisions.  
 
Results published in this annex may differ from those already published and future 
publications may also reflect subsequent revisions made. 
 
Figures may vary from previously published figures for a number of reasons, including: 
 
revision to the administrative system, including releases being entered onto the 
system outside of the month they were logged; 
 
review following updates to other data in the offender’s record; 
 
releases being extracted from administrative systems using a different method to 
allow data to be matched with other sources for the purpose of producing particular 
statistics. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
21 
 
Contact points 
 
 
Press enquiries should be directed to the Ministry of Justice press office: 
 
Tel: xx-xxxx-xxxx 
 
Other enquiries about these statistics should be directed to: 
 
Nick Mavron 
Ministry of Justice 
Justice Statistics Analytical Services 
7th Floor 
102 Petty France 
London 
SW1H 9AJ 
 
General enquiries about the statistical work of the Ministry of Justice, or requests for 
alternative formats of this publication can be e-mailed to: 
xxx@xxx.xx 
 
General information about the official statistics system of the UK is available from: 
http://statisticsauthority.gov.uk/about-the-authority/uk-statistical-system 
 
Ministry of Justice publishes data relating to offender management in England and 
Wales. Equivalent statistics for Scotland and Northern Ireland can be found at: 
http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice 
https://www.justice-ni.gov.uk/topics/doj-statistics-and-research 
 
This publication and associated spreadsheet files of the tables contained in this 
document and detailed information of definitions, sources and key legislative changes 
are available for download at:  
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
© Crown copyright 2016 
 
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 
except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit 
nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the 
Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: 
xxx@xxx.xx