Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Recommendation 8
8
Accepted
Paragraph: 93
Ineffective parole process for IPP offenders creates significant barriers due to resource issues
Conclusion
Our inquiry has highlighted wider resource issues within the Probation Service and the Parole Board. We have heard about frequent delays, untrained Parole Board members, frequent changes in professionals essential to the parole process, uncertainty following a negative parole decision and issues with the probation service. For the reasons set out, we consider the parole process as it stands, and the probation service’s involvement in it, to be ineffective, and posing a significant barrier to progression for IPP offenders. There needs to be sufficient resources for the Parole Board to consider IPP cases without undue delays. The Parole Board should prioritise people serving IPPs, and provide additional training to its members in understanding the impacts of the sentence. Only trained and experienced Parole Board members should oversee IPP cases.
Government Response Summary
The government details existing measures to address staffing challenges within the Probation Service and commits to reviewing current case management practices for IPP prisoners in custody and refreshing guidance on IPP Progression Panels.
Paragraph Reference:
93
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
Reasoning: The licence period following custody is an important tool in both ensuring the public remain protected from the risk posed by offenders and to ensure that offenders are properly supported to manage their risks while reintegrating into the community. Some licences contain conditions to prohibit offenders from making contact with their victims or entering a geographical area where their victims live and work. IPP offenders are also able to have the supervisory element of their licence suspended after five years of continuous good behaviour in the community and can live in the community under licence without onerous conditions. We will not seek to reduce the eligibility period for licence termination from 10 years to five years, but we will review the policy and practice for suspending supervision in appropriate cases with a view to ensuring the policy considers all eligible cases at the appropriate time. Following this Government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, the Secretary of State is now required to automatically refer every eligible IPP offender to the Parole Board for licence termination and to keep doing so every subsequent year where the Parole Board decides to keep the licence in place. This will give eligible offenders every opportunity to have their licence terminated and enable the IPP sentence to be brought to an end in more cases.