Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to set a maximum period within which an oral hearing for an appeal against recall on an Imprisonment for Public Protection sentence must be heard; and if he will make a statement.

There is no formal appeal mechanism for any offender following recall from licensed supervision in the community. Consequently, no recalled IPP prisoner is awaiting the outcome of an appeal against recall and the concept of a recalled prisoner awaiting the outcome of an appeal does not apply.

However, whilst there is no appeal mechanism, every recalled Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) prisoners has a right to a review of his/her fresh period of detention on recall, and it falls to the independent Parole Board to undertake that review – that is, to assess when it is safe to re-release the recalled IPP prisoner into the community on licence. The Board is required to conduct post-recall reviews without undue delay, but there is no set maximum period within which a review must be completed.

Officials on behalf of the Secretary of State refer the cases of recalled offenders to the Parole Board within 28 days of their return to custody; it is for the independent Parole Board to determine how and when reviews will be conducted. The timing of a review will depend on the nature and circumstances of each case, having particular regard to what information is necessary to conduct the full risk assessment required to determine whether the offender is safe to be re-released. Recalled offenders have the right to submit representations to the Parole Board, against the decision to recall them, as part of the review process.

Public safety is the priority and the Parole Board may only direct release once it is satisfied that detaining the offender is no longer necessary for the protection of the public.