Increased transparency
This is a guest post by the Chief Executive of the Parole Board, Cecilia French.
The justice system can sometimes feel to victims and survivors of crime as though it is designed for everyone other than them. At the Parole Board, we want to do all we can to be more transparent with victims and survivors about the parole process and how it works.
We recognise that when an offender has committed a horrific crime, it can be extremely difficult to accept that someone has fundamentally changed or reduced their risk while in prison. The role of the Parole Board is to carry out a thorough, evidence-based risk assessment, once the offender has served the punishment part of their sentence in prison, as handed down by the court.
Only if someone meets the legal release test will the Board direct that person is released back to the community, to be supervised by the Probation Service with strict licence conditions which, if breached, can mean they are returned to prison.
There is no ‘balancing exercise’ which weighs an offender’s rights against those of protecting the public: the test is solely whether a prisoner is safe to be released.
Key Facts
Approximately 90% of people released from prison each year are released automatically without a Parole Board assessment.
Each year the Parole Board makes around 17,000 decisions, of which about a quarter are release decisions. Of those prisoners who are released, the figures suggest that less than 0.5% go on to be convicted of a serious further offence. Despite this, any serious further offence will be deeply distressing and we make sure that these are thoroughly investigated so lessons can be learned.
Victims in the parole process
Parole decisions have a significant impact on victims and survivors. Simply knowing the offender is having a parole review can be traumatic, bringing back memories and feelings connected with the offence and the trial many years later.
We encourage anybody who is eligible to enrol in the Victim Contact Scheme (VCS), run by the Probation Service. Joining the scheme means that victims will be allocated a Victim Liaison Officer who can explain the parole process, notify them of decisions regarding the offender’s parole review and help them with what we know can be the upsetting process of submitting a Victim Personal Statement to the Board.
Victim Personal Statements are important and they help panels to direct questions to the offender. They also give panels insight into the original offence and its impact, to inform decisions around what licence conditions a prisoner must comply with if released.
Whilst the Parole Board does not generally have direct contact with victims during the parole process, any victims who are not eligible to enrol with the VCS can contact the Parole Board Victims Team directly for any queries or guidance. The email address is victimenquiries@paroleboard.gov.uk
Transparency
We have made strides towards being more transparent in our processes over the last few years. One part of this has been the introduction of public hearings. We have now held six oral hearings in public, allowing victims, the public and the media to see first-hand how thoroughly the panel looks at the evidence before them.
In addition, to allow many more victims to attend oral hearings, where cases do not meet the criteria to be held in public, victims can now also apply to observe those hearings still held in private. The majority of requests from victims to do this have been granted and there is a presumption within our guidance that the applications will be granted, unless there are exceptional reasons not to. We are still in the early stages and are learning lessons from these hearings, but feedback we have received so far suggests that victims have generally been pleased with the robust approach that the panels take to the risk assessment.
We recognise that if a panel goes on to direct someone’s release that can be devastating and it is important to us that in rolling victims observations of private hearings out nationally, victims should be able to access the support that they need when they need it. To help with this, we will soon be publishing a leaflet and a video on our website to help explain the parole process for victims and survivors.
In June, we published our Transparency Review conducted by two senior Parole Board members. This review recommended that we conduct a pilot to start replacing decision summaries with redacted decision letters, which will offer more detail than a summary would, giving victims a clearer picture of why a decision has been taken. We are looking to start providing these soon, in the first instance for public hearings and then victim-observed hearings.
Following the introduction of the Sentencing Bill last week, to implement many of the proposals contained in the Independent Sentencing Review, which reported in May, we will be working with the Ministry of Justice and other partners to ensure the recommendations are implemented in a way which ensures the public are protected.
