THE PEOPLE’S INQUIRY INTO IPP
Victims and Survivors
Victims of crime must be heard with dignity, independence and purpose. The People’s Inquiry will not use victim involvement to score political points or set one harmed group against another. It will create meaningful opportunities for victims and survivors to contribute to better criminal justice outcomes—including public safety, accountability, recognition, recovery, reparation and the prevention of further harm.
Victims’ Voices Matter
Victims of crime are too often consulted after decisions have already been made, reduced to a single statement, or invoked to justify political positions they did not choose. The People’s Inquiry will take a different approach. Victims and survivors will be invited to identify what recognition, information, accountability, safety and reparation mean to them. Their evidence will help the Inquiry understand where criminal justice institutions have supported recovery—and where they have caused further harm. Participation will never require a victim or survivor to endorse a predetermined position. Victims do not all hold the same views, and meaningful engagement must respect that independence.
From Voice to Power
This Inquiry advances a central proposal developed through postgraduate research into rehabilitation, penal harm and transformative justice: the creation of a National Lived Experience and Victims’ Justice Council. The research rejects the false choice between supporting victims of crime and addressing injustice within the penal system. It proposes a model in which victims and people with lived experience help shape policy together—balancing accountability, rehabilitation, public safety and the reduction of harm. The People’s Inquiry is putting that model into practice through its Victims and Survivors Panel. Panel members will help shape questions, identify overlooked harms, examine evidence and test whether recommendations respond meaningfully to victims’ needs. This is not ceremonial consultation. Participation must carry influence, strengthen institutional accountability and contribute to justice that heals rather than divides.
The Panel’s Role
The Victims and Survivors Panel will contribute directly to the Inquiry’s evidence, analysis and recommendations.
Panel members will help to:
identify the needs and experiences that the Inquiry must examine;
assess how criminal justice institutions communicate with and support victims;
expose practices that cause further trauma, exclusion or loss of trust;
test whether proposed solutions strengthen safety, accountability and recovery;
examine how IPP policy has affected victims, families and wider communities;
challenge political narratives that claim to speak for all victims;
shape recommendations for recognition, reparation and the prevention of further harm; and
help evaluate whether the Inquiry’s final recommendations are fair, workable and responsive to victims’ needs.
The Panel will work alongside the IPP Lived Experience and Families Panel while retaining its own voice, independence and distinct responsibilities.
Safe Participation
Participation will be voluntary, trauma-aware and based on informed consent. No one will be required to disclose more than they choose, speak publicly or engage directly with another participant group.
Victims and survivors will be offered clear information about:
how their evidence may be used;
whether they wish to be named or remain anonymous;
the limits of confidentiality;
safeguarding and available support;
their ability to pause or withdraw from participation; and
how corrections or concerns can be raised.
Evidence will not be sensationalised, taken out of context or used to imply that every victim holds the same view. Personal testimony will be handled with care, and publication decisions will consider dignity, privacy, consent and potential further harm. The Inquiry is an evidence-gathering process. It does not replace legal advice, counselling, emergency assistance or specialist victim-support services.
Who Can Take Part
The Inquiry welcomes engagement from people whose lives have been affected by crime, including:
people directly harmed by an offence;
bereaved relatives and families;
survivors of serious violence, abuse or exploitation;
people affected by offences connected with an IPP sentence;
victim advocates and independent support organisations; and
people with professional experience of victim support, restorative practice, safeguarding or trauma recovery.
You do not need to support a particular policy position or hold a particular view about IPP. Agreement with the Inquiry is not a condition of being heard. People serving IPP sentences and their families will contribute through the separate IPP Lived Experience and Families Panel. The two panels will retain distinct identities while contributing to a shared search for truth, safety and better justice outcomes.
Join the Conversation
If you are a victim, survivor, bereaved family member, advocate or support professional and would like to contribute to the People’s Inquiry, you can register your interest through our contact page. At this stage, please do not send detailed testimony, medical information, case files or other sensitive documents through the general contact form. Tell us briefly how you would like to contribute and provide a safe method of contacting you. The Inquiry team will provide further information about participation, consent, confidentiality and safeguarding before substantive evidence is requested.
