GovWire

The Parole Board faced another challenging year as the continuation of Covid-19 was felt throughout much of 2021/22. Despite this, the Parole Board has fully embedded remote hearings into its work, with the vast majority of cases continuing to be heard via video or telephone. Of course, where required, a small number of cases were heard face-to-face inside prisons. The decision on whether or not a case is heard remotely or face-to-face is based purely on the needs of the case.

Regardless of the method of hearing, cases continued to move through the system effectively without any backlog emerging. The Parole Board would like to record its thanks to HM Prison Service for its rapid improvements in its virtual hearing capacity, to ensure cases continued to be heard.

Crucially, despite changes to its operating model, the Boards release rate has remained stable at roughly 25%. That is around 1 in 4 prisoners reviewed by the Parole Board meet the test for release, which is set by Parliament.

The Parole Board has maintained its strong record on public protection, which is and always will be its top priority. During 2021/22, fewer than 0.5% of prisoners released by the Parole Board were charged with a Serious Further Offence (SFO).

This compares favourably with other parole jurisdictions around the world; however, each SFO is one tragedy too many and each case is thoroughly reviewed to ensure that any changes or improvements needed are actioned properly and speedily.

By the end of the reporting year:

• 8,834 oral hearings were conducted
• 6,336 oral hearings were concluded
• 2,353 prisoners were refused release at oral hearing
• 3,434 prisoners were directed for release at oral hearing
• 556 prisoners were recommended for open at oral hearing
• 9,054 prisoners were refused release at the MCA review
• 705 prisoners were released at the MCA review
• 12 prisoners were recommended for open at the MCA stage

In total, 11,407 prisoners were refused release and 4,139 prisoners were released.

The Board also carried out a huge amount of other important work:

• 22 more panel chairs trained and accredited
• 19 new members recruited
• Extensive member training has continued to be delivered including vital further training around handling Terrorist Act cases
• Several pieces of updated guidance have been issued including; transgender prisoners, restorative justice, licence conditions, interventions and specialist reports
• Number of summaries issued this financial year is 1,706
• Number of reconsideration decisions received in 2021/22 is 256. 69 were ineligible and 195 were eligible. 39 were granted and 156 refused
• The Parole Board has continued to contribute and provide input to the Root and Branch Review of the parole system