Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of the decision-making framework used by the Parole Board to assess risk.

In accordance with the Parole Board Rules, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Justice, has applied to the Parole Board for reconsideration of the provisional decision to release Simon Smith on life licence. This is now a matter for the Parole Board.

In the Root and Branch Review of the Parole System, published in March 2022, the Government proposed making the release test more prescriptive, setting out the criteria the Board must consider. The Victims and Prisoners Bill implements this proposal, setting out a new release test which makes clear that minimising risk and protecting the public are the sole considerations in deciding release.