Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will bring forward proposals to make prisoners released on parole from life sentences ineligible for parole again if they reoffend.

Whilst crime is falling, sentences are getting more severe. Under this Government fewer individuals are entering the criminal justice system for the first time but those who do offend are more likely to go to prison, and for longer.

Prisoners serving life sentences, imprisonment for public protection, certain extended determinate sentences and some historical long determinate sentences of four years or more for a serious sexual or violent crime committed prior to 5 April 2005, and also certain offenders who have been recalled for breach of their licence conditions, are subject to discretionary release by the Parole Board. A prisoner serving a life sentence or a sentence of imprisonment for public protection must serve their minimum term in full before being eligible for consideration for release. A prisoner serving an extended determinate sentence of 10 years or more must serve at least two-thirds of their custodial term before being considered for release, and a prisoner serving an historical long determinate sentence must serve at least half of their custodial term before being eligible to come before the Parole Board.

All prisoners are subject to the same release test and they are only released (prior to any automatic release provisions which may apply in the case of determinate sentence prisoners) if the Parole Board is satisfied that it is safe to do so. Where an offender is turned down for parole his or her case is normally considered again after a period of two years in indeterminate sentence cases and one year for those serving determinate sentences.

Where an offender is released on licence but then commits a further offence and is recalled to prison, unless the prisoner is subject to a fixed term recall, he or she may serve the rest of their sentence in custody unless the Parole Board considers it safe to re-release the prisoner. Fixed term recalls are not available for offenders serving indeterminate or extended sentences. The sentence imposed for the further offence may also affect when the offender next becomes eligible to be considered for release. The seriousness of the further offence committed, the offender’s general behaviour on licence and their level of risk will, of course, be important factors which the Parole Board will take into account when considering re-release. Where a recalled offender is serving an indeterminate sentence it is possible that they will remain in prison for the rest of their life, and other offenders serving determinate sentences may remain in prison until the end of their custodial term, but it is important to review their progress regularly to determine whether or not the offender’s continued detention is necessary to protect the public.

The Government has no current plans to change the above arrangements.