Parole

(asked on 10th December 2018) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to give the Parole Board powers to commission independent (a) psychological and (b) other expert reports if the recommendations of the prison and defence submitted reports differ.


Answered by
 Portrait
Rory Stewart
This question was answered on 18th December 2018

The Secretary of State and the prisoner are able to submit expert reports to the Parole Board, who assess the evidence presented before them in order to determine whether the prisoner may safely be released. The Board has the power to direct the reports and evidence it considers necessary to reach that decision and can direct any report-writer to give oral evidence and answer questions from the panel if necessary. In some complex cases, a specialist psychologist or psychiatric panel member may be assigned. The Parole Board does not commission additional, independent reports.

In April this year, the Secretary of State announced a review of the Parole Board Rules, which will build on the work we have already done to increase transparency and ensure victims are better supported. The conclusions of this review, including an assessment what evidence should be presented to the Board, will be published in due course.

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