Term 2 Lecture 8- Parole System

Question 1

What are the key readings?

Question 2

What is the overall reoffending rate?

Answer 2

25.5%

Question 3

What is the key drive for the prison population?

Answer 3

Not how many people we send to prison but for how long we send them for

Question 4

What is the % change since 2012/19 in life sentences?

Answer 4

+88%

Question 5

What is the % change since 2012/19 in 4 years + sentences?

Answer 5

+40%

Question 6

What is the % change since 2012/19 in less than 6 month sentences?

Answer 6

-31%

Question 7

When was the highest tariff length for murder 2003-2013? (Crewe et al)

Answer 7

2013, 21.1. 2003, 12.5

Question 8

What should parole be around according to Arnott and Creighton?

Answer 8

The views of the victim
What level of risk is acceptable
If we should demostrate society as merciful
Prisoner behaviour
If release is acceptable to public opinion

Question 9

When was the parole board for England and Wales created?

Answer 9

Created by the Parole Board by the Criminal Justice Act 1967 following the abolition of capital punishment

Question 10

What is the parole board for England and Wales?

Answer 10

The Board is an independent court-like body that works with other criminal justice agencies to protect the public by risk assessing prisoners to decide whether they can be safely released into the community
Sponsored by Ministry of Justice

Question 11

Who makes the parole board rules?

Answer 11

Justice Secretary makes Parole Board Rules and directions on matters to be taken into account

Question 12

Who are the members of the parole board?

Answer 12

292 members (as of March 31, 2023)
48 Judicial Members
61 Psychologist Members
34 Psychiatrist Members
165 Independent Members ((probation, legal and other backgrounds)
10 former active members

Question 13

What does the Parole board determine?

Answer 13

Deciding whether some prisoners who have been recalled to prison can be re-released
Advising the Secretary of State on any release or recall matters referred to it
Advising the Secretary of State whether indeterminate prisoners can be moved from closed to open conditions
Deciding if prisoners who have committed offences of serious public concern, such as terrorism and serious child sex offences, can be released
Deciding whether to release prisoners serving extended determinate sentence

Question 14

What is the risk test?

Answer 14

Considering if the release of prisoners who come before it, if the prisoner should remain detaind

Question 15

What are the standard licence conditions?

Answer 15

Behaviour
Residence
Contact with supervisor
Work
Travel

Question 16

What are the additional licence conditions?

Answer 16

Contacts
Possessions
Programmes
Alcohol

Question 17

What is the paper decisions from those who remain in custody in parole?

Answer 17

52%

Question 18

What is the paper decisions for those who are released?

Answer 18

3.7%

Question 19

What is the oral hearings for those who remain in custody?

Answer 19

42%

Question 20

What is the oral hearings for those who are released?

Answer 20

51%

Question 21

What are the controversies for parole?

Answer 21

Prisoners sentenced to Imprisonment for Public for Public Protection (IPPs)
Fall out from the Worboys case
Current government consultation: ‘Root and Branch review of the parole system’

Question 22

What are the issues from the Worboys case?

Answer 22

Risk and decision making
Victims
Openness and transparency
IPP prisoners
Independence

Question 23

What is the Worboys case?

Answer 23

Worboys committed several sexual offences on young women
Convicted on 1 count of rape, 5 SAs, 1 attempted assault, 12 drugging charge
Parole panel released after 8 year minimium tariff and IPP
Received 2 more life sentences with 6 year minimum tariff

Question 24

When were IPP created?

Answer 24

Created in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 and implemented in 2005. Curtailed in 2008 and finally abolished in 2012.

Question 25

What do IPPs consist of?

Answer 25

Sentence consists of the ‘tariff’, the minimum time that must be served, but then can only be released when Parole Board decides it is safe to do so

Question 26

What do IPPs intend to do?

Answer 26

Intended to ensure that dangerous offenders were detained until their risk was manageable in the community

Question 27

How many IPP prisoners are in prison from recall?

Answer 27

1625

Question 28

How many prisoners remained in prison post tariff from IPP?

Answer 28

99%

Question 29

What did IPP cause?

Answer 29

High levels of self harm and lack of trust for prisoners since they were meant to be rehabilitated

Question 30

What are the criticisms from IPP prison population?

Answer 30

Lacks clear strategy priority, operational detail and performance measures

Question 31

What are the recommendations for IPP?

Answer 31

Small expert committee to work with judiciary to develop a resentencing exercise for all IPP prisoners with 3 strategies

Question 32

What are the strategies from the IPP recommendations?

Answer 32

(1) balancing protection of the public with justice for the individual offender;
(2) recognising and protecting the independence of the judiciary; and
(3) ensuring that no harsher sentence is imposed retrospectively. We also appreciate that establishing a resentencing exercise will be administratively complex.

Question 33

What were the changes to the parole board rules?

Answer 33

Parole Board given greater control of the dossier
Reconsideration requests:
Secretary of State or Prisoner (the parties)
Grounds of ‘Irrationality’ or ‘Procedural unfairness’
21 day time limit
145 applications since July 2019 – March 2020 (130 from prisoners/15 from Secretary of State)
20 ordered (18 from prisoners/2 from Secretary of State)

Question 34

What is the root and branch review?

Answer 34

A new precautionary approach to the release of a top-tier of the most serious offenders
Changes to refine the statutory release test will be introduced to make it more prescriptive
Justice Secretary power to veto release decisions

Question 35

What are the characteristics of the root and branch review?

Answer 35

Increase number of PB members from law enforcement backgrounds
Hearings now in public when in ‘interests of justice’
Probation and prison witnesses not allowed to give an opinion on release . Only one ‘official view’
Must be former police officers in some panels

Question 36

What are the proposals from the root and branch review?

Answer 36

Refine the statutory release test to make it prescriptive
Increase the number of the parole board members from law enforcement background so they sit on panels in top tier classes
Improve the transparency and victim participation in the parole process
Secretary of state has the power to block a decision by the parole board to release a top tier offencer