Educate, Campaign, Remember, Support
This is a guest post by the team at UNGRIPP.
Launched last year on the 8th anniversary of the IPP sentence’s abolition, the United Group for Reform of IPP (UNGRIPP) is a grassroots campaigning organisation pushing for changes to the Indeterminate Sentence for Public Protection (IPP) sentence. Led by families of those serving the sentence, UNGRIPP pursues four activities that we believe are most needed: educate, campaign, remember, and support.
What’s in a name?
The problems of the IPP sentence are already well known to those who read this blog. UNGRIPP believes that the only way to achieve change is for everyone concerned about the IPP sentence to come together and act collectively – to stand united. That includes people serving the sentence, their friends and family, criminal justice professionals, academics, community leaders, third sector organisations, politicians, the public, and anybody concerned with the fair and proportionate administration of punishment. We seek to bring people together regardless of political persuasion, organisational affiliation or personal involvement with the sentence. We believe that the harm caused by the IPP sentence transcends these differences.
We also believe it is important to transcend political differences in campaigning. While some people have called for executive release of all IPPs, others have called for more moderate reforms, such as reform to the license period, or for those with tariffs of less than two years to be addressed first. Still others have campaigned for individual loved ones. We believe that all these voices come from a similar place of pain, uncertainty, and alienation created by the IPP sentence, and that these similarities are more important than differences in campaigning efforts. UNGRIPP does favour particular changes, but seeks to impartially represent all changes that have been called for. We present the options in a way that allows people to make up their own minds, and then supports them to take action (see https://www.ungripp.com/options-for-change for more details).
Why a grassroots movement?
UNGRIPP is no more or less than a group of people who want to take action. Led by families, and supported by academics and professionals, it brings people together with a range of perspectives and skills. However, it aims not to stray from the fundamentally painful experiences wrought by the IPP sentence, and is morally guided by those who experience that pain. Our earliest efforts began when two of our founders set up a social media channel called ‘The Forgotten’ (@forgottenipps). This platform allows people to anonymously share the impact of the IPP sentence on them and their families, without fear of repercussions. As the stories poured in, we realised that greater movement for change around the IPP sentence was needed, and UNGRIPP was created. We try to give a voice, and a platform, to those who feel unheard and unseen. Here is what we do.
Educate
The truth of the IPP sentence is hidden behind legal terms like ‘tariff’ and ‘indefinite’. People often find the sentence shocking and unacceptable, if they stay long enough to learn about it. But explaining the IPP sentence in a straightforward way is difficult, and can be draining for those affected by it. We aim to educate people about the IPP sentence in understandable terms, and to transparently present its complexities, so people can draw their own conclusions. Our website explains the IPP sentence, so that people affected by it do not have to. We also house the biggest archive of material on the IPP sentence, for use by journalists, campaigners and academics, and for circulation to anybody who wishes to learn more about the sentence.
Campaign
The IPP sentence was abolished by the Government in 2012, yet 3,187 people are still serving it in prison, and thousands more are subject to its restrictions in the community. UNGRIPP campaigns for a restoration of proportionality to those serving the IPP sentence via determinate resentencing, for reform to the IPP license that burdens those who were given an IPP and their families, and for a holistic package of support that helps all affected by the sentence (including families and children) to recover. We campaign predominantly through direct political action, by giving people the resources to easily engage with their MPs, by our own engagement with politicians, and through media work.
Remember
We recognise that the very least we can achieve is to make sure that people affected by the IPP sentence are heard, and remembered. Our social media channel The Forgotten receives stories daily from those affected by the sentence, which we publish regularly. We monitor Parliamentary activity on the IPP sentence, and the regular statistical releases by the Ministry of Justice, both of which we publish on our website. We commemorate all of those who have died whilst serving the sentence, including those who have committed suicide.
Support
We provide resources to support people serving the IPP sentence, their loved ones, and the professionals working with them, in the hope that it will give people a better chance of rebuilding their lives in the community. We shortly plan to publish materials detailing how to apply for supervision suspension and license termination.
How can you help?
Our hope is that we can bring people together to be a stronger force for change. Here are some ways you can help:
Explain the IPP sentence to people that don’t know about it. Use our summary here:
Write to your MP. This is the single most important thing that you can do, particularly while the Police, Crime, Sentencing & Courts Bill is going through Parliament. Find instructions and template letters here:
Use our archive. If you’re writing something about the IPP sentence, you can find summaries, perspectives and personal stories in our archive here:
Share people’s stories. Make sure that those affected by the sentence are not forgotten. Share their stories from our channel: @gorgotten_ipps
Help someone who’s struggling. If you’re seeking support for someone on the IPP sentence, direct them to our support archive:
Or if you have resources which might help, tell us so we can add them:
State your support for change. Let people know that you support what UNGRIPP is trying to do. Please promote us, but most importantly let the Government know that you are not happy with the continued existence of the IPP sentence, and that you want them to act.
@UNGRIPP on Twitter
5 Responses
I received a 6year Ipp sentence for sexual crimes I did not commit. I maintained my innocence through out my term in prison. Therefore I could not attend programs. At my first parole hearing ( end of tarrif ). I actually got a cat D move from a high security prison. Which had never been heard of. In the cat D prison I could access a program whilst maintaining my innocence. I ended up doing 8years and 4 months in prison. I’ve been out now since 2015. And have very good support from my probation officer. But I still walk on egg shells ? I were continually punished and threatened in prison saying you’ll never get out until you admit your guilty. How can you discuss a crime you didn’t commit which is part of the programs ? I stud my ground and wouldn’t be bullied. I’ve tried to appeal my conviction but been told I need fresh evidence that wasn’t available at trial. Impossible when the only prosecution evidence was the stories told regards an innocent man
Please don’t post my name
Thanks for sharing your experience. Glad to hear that you are out and have a helpful probation officer. Don’t forget to apply to have your IPP terminated in 2025 (10 years after release). All the best
Russell
My brother is serving ipp prisoner, he wants to give up his british citizenship and leave the uk for good otherwise he will never get out. What a sentence, absolute madness, so after the sentence was abolished in 2012, im assuming people will still come to prison for offences that would of got the ipp, so how are they deemed less dangerous than ipp sentences from 2005 to 2012. Thats what its saying the most dangerous and violent people were from 2005 to 2012 and after that everyones safe to be released. Just resentence these people, surely its cnt be that political.
I served a custodial sentence of 7 out of 14 years.I pleaded not guilty to several counts of my conviction.I was threatened and assaulted by fellow mates.I maintained my innocence only to be indirectly blackmailed that I would be deported to my country of birth. After having resided in the UK with idefinite leave to remain in the last 20 years was stripped of me and classified as a foreign national and being an IPP has kept me from returning to the UK.I’ve lost my family and am having difficulty with having my Ipp revoked via a solicitor within the UK as my case needs the documents which I’m able to provide but have insufficient funds available as my custodial sentence hasn’t been exposed therefore I can’t find employment here due to affirmative action and discrimination as well as no references to find employment. I have left a family behind in the UK but am struggling.I suffer from p.t.s.d and suffer with depression which adds more medication to the collection I already have for epilepsy.