Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of enabling families of victims of crime to participate in the process of taking decisions on prisoner release.

Victims can already participate in the process of considering a prisoner’s release in a number of ways.

Any victim, or bereaved family member, of a serious sexual or violent offence where an offender receives a custodial sentence of 12 months, or more is entitled to join the Victim Contact Scheme. Victims who join the Scheme will be allocated a Victim Liaison Officer who will provide the victim with regular updates including key information about how the sentence and release processes operate. Victims can request that the offender on release is subject to specific licence conditions for their safety and peace of mind, such as exclusion zones and non-contact conditions. These requests must be considered by the Probation Service.

Where the prisoner’s release is subject to a review by the independent Parole Board then, in addition to requesting licence conditions, victims may also submit a Victim Personal Statement to explain to the Parole Board how the crime has affected the victim and their family. We have committed to going further by allowing victims the opportunity to make written submissions to the Parole Board. Information in the submissions could include their views on the offender’s potential release and questions to the Parole Board. This change will be enshrined in the updated Victims’ Code which is expected to be introduced in 2024.

The decision on whether to grant parole is based entirely on risk. Where a victim has information relevant to the assessment of future risk, there are mechanisms in place that enable the victims’ information to be provided to the Parole Board by the Probation Service. This approach protects the victim from being liable to be called as a witness to the parole hearing and subject to questioning by the Panel or the prisoner and/or their legal representative.