To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders have been given an indeterminate sentence for public protection in each year since the sentence was introduced. (247926)

The numbers of receptions into the prison estate in England and Wales in each year since 2005 can be found in the following table.

This information is taken from table 6.17 of the Offender Management Caseload Statistics, 2007, a copy of which can be found in the House of Commons Library and which can also be found at the following weblink:

http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/prisonandprobation.htm

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.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the average minimum tariff for indeterminate sentences for public protection is; (247927)

The average tariff, or specified part, for those prisoners serving an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection, as of 15 January 2009, is 2.97 years. This is based on a sample of 4,689 prisoners.

Since the introduction of indeterminate sentences of imprisonment for public protection, 47 such prisoners serving such sentences have been released during the period up to 15 January 2009. 45 of these have been released by the Parole Board. two were released early by the Secretary of State on compassionate grounds.

These figures are taken from the Public Protection Unit Database (PPUD) within the National Offender Management Service. As with any large scale recording system, it is subject to possible errors arising from either data entry or processing.