Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many parole board hearings have been rescheduled since January 2021; and how many of those have been rescheduled for a date that was six months or more beyond the original hearing date.

The total number of completed oral hearings concluded between January 2021 – July 2022 (the latest date for which data is available) was 9,911, of which 5,370 were adjourned and 1,695 hearings were deferred.

The Parole Board seeks to conclude all cases in a timely fashion and aims to relist an adjourned or deferred case within three months of that decision. In 2021-22, 94% of parole cases had a hearing date within three months of being ready to list.

In addition, timeliness is measured through the Parole Board’s target to maintain cases outstanding at less than 20% of its active caseload. In 2021-22, this target was achieved at 18%.