To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) men and (b) women were sentenced for public protection in each of the last five years; and how many have been released. (135779)

I have been asked to reply.

Public protection sentences were first provided in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 and implemented for relevant offences committed on or after four April 2005.

The numbers¹ of male prisoners received into prisons in England and Wales under indeterminate sentences for public protection (IPP) were 670 in 2005-06 and 1,670 in 2006-07. The numbers¹ of female prisoners were 30 in 2005-06 and 40 in 2006-07. There have been three male and two female prisoners released from IPP sentences up to April 2007. The reliability of the data on the numbers received and released under the extended sentence for public protection (EPP) is not sufficiently robust for publication. It is not possible to distinguish sentences made on the basis of public protection before this date.

These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

¹ Rounded to nearest 10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many indefinite sentences of public protection have been handed down in each month since their introduction. (135846)

I have been asked to reply.

Figures on the numbers of prisoners received into prisons in England and Wales under indeterminate sentences for public protection (IPP) by each month since their introduction can be found in the following table.

These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.