Parole Board publishes Annual Report for 2005/06

06/11/2007

The Parole Board today published its Annual Report and Accounts for 2005/06, reporting on its performance against business plan targets, statistics for determinate sentence and life sentence prisoners and accounts for the year. The report also gives details of the work carried out to improve public confidence during a year which has seen the Board come under public scrutiny as never before.

Performance

A detailed report on the Boards performance against business plan targets for 2005/06 shows that most targets and strategic aims were met or exceeded. These include:

• Considering 97% of parole applications within 25 workings days of receipt against a target of 95%.
• Notifying 98% of decisions or recommendations within 2 working days of a panel against a target of 95%.
• Sifting 100% of Smith and West recall representations within 2 working days of receipt of referral against a target of 80%, thus avoiding a number of unnecessary oral hearings.
• Replying to 99% of correspondence including complaints from prisoners within 20 working days against a target of 95%.

The areas where targets have not been met include:

• Setting up Smith and West hearings within tight deadlines, which were achieved in 75% of cases against a target of 80%.
• Reducing deferrals at hearing. The aim was to reduce the figure from 12% to 10% but the figure actually increased to 16%.

Statistics

The key statistics for 2005/06 are:

19,402
The number of cases handled during the year. This compared with 18,583 in 2004/05, up 4.4%. This modest increase in overall cases masks the massive 42% increase in resource intensive oral hearings, which follows a 31% increase the previous year. Case law and legislative changes are turning the Board into an increasingly tribunal based organisation with responsibility for dealing with the most serious and dangerous offenders.

1,900
The number of oral hearings that took place. This compared with 1,341 in 2004/05, up 42% and follows on from the House of Lords decision in the Smith and West case to allow prisoners an oral hearing to make representations against recall. Next year will see a continued increase in the number of oral hearings as the new indeterminate sentences for public protection, brought in by the Criminal Justice Act 2003, start to filter through.

7,528
The number of parole applications received during the year. This compared with 7,297 in 2004/05, up 3.2%. The number of DCR cases is expected to begin to fall next year as they are replaced by the new sentences brought in under the 2003 Criminal Justice Act.

9,296
The number of prisoners recalled during the year. This compared with 9,320 in 2004/05, down 0.3%. This number is expected to rise next year as the percentage of prisoners recalled to prison increases, often for reasons other than further offences.

49.4%
The percentage of DCR cases where parole was granted. Down from 52% in 2004/05 and the lowest release rate since 2000/01. The release rate is continuing to fall this year, which might well indicate a more cautious approach by panels following on from recent high-profile cases.

302
The number of determinate sentence prisoners recalled from parole following an allegation of a further offence. This is out of an average of 4,683 such prisoners on parole during the year or 6.4%. This compares with a rate of 6.5% for 2004/05 and 7% for 2003/04.

23%
The percentage of life sentence cases considered by oral hearing where life licence was granted. This is the first year where we have published this figure separately from the consideration of extended sentence prisoners. In 2004/05 the release rate (including extended sentence prisoners) was 21%, in 2003/04 it was 25%.

87
The number of prisoners on life licence who were recalled following allegations of further offences. This is out of a total of 1,495 life sentence prisoners under active supervision in the community during the year or 5.8%.

Accounts

The Boards only source of income is grant-in-aid provided by the Home Office and this was £5,900,000 for the year. This was an increase of £1,665,000 (39.3%) on 2004/05 and the increased funding reflects the implementation of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 and compliance with the House of Lords judgement in the cases of Smith & West.

The increase of £54 (12%) in the unit costs for paper hearings in life sentence cases reflects the increased use of fee paid retired judges for this work instead of using serving judges supplied under notional costs by Her Majestys Court Service. The increase of £156 (10%) in the cost of 3-member panel oral hearing cases reflects the significant increase in the number of cases that were adjourned or the decision deferred for further information. The comparatively high cost of the single-member recall panels for the hearing of representations against recall for determinate sentence prisoners reflects the fact that usually only one case is heard on a sitting day.

Improving public protection

A chapter in the report is devoted to work carried out by the Board during the year to improve public protection and public confidence. This includes:

• A formal review, led by the Home Office, of the scope and quality of information that is required by the Parole Board to ensure that a complete dossier of reports is provided to the Board by the Prison and Probation Services on each prisoner that we consider for release.
• The introduction of a system of intensive case management to support members in their deliberations on the cases of sexual and violent offenders that pose particular difficulties for risk assessment.
• A commitment to re-introducing member interviews selectively for offenders who pose particular concern to the Board, notably those convicted of a sexual or violent offence who are recommended for parole by report writers.
• The strengthening of the internal review process by including distinguished individuals from outside the membership of the Parole Board on the Committee to ensure an independent and external perspective.

Parole Board Chairman, Professor Sir Duncan Nichol, said:

It would be quite wrong to say that the Parole Board has operated away from public scrutiny up to this point in its history, but this year we have seen the searchlight of public, media and political attention pointed at us in a way that we have never experienced before.

We have been able to respond quickly and positively with the development of intensive case management for the sexual and violent offenders that pose particular difficulties for risk assessment, the re-introduction of the member interview in certain cases and the inclusion within the Review Committee of distinguished external and independent members. Rather than resisting change we are, I believe, continuing to lead it.

Parole Board Chief Executive, Christine Glenn, said:

The key message for us to put over is that the most important consideration that we have in our work is the safety of the public and reducing the risk to that safety. In this we can never stand still, we have to look constantly for ways in which we can learn from our mistakes, improve our procedures and reduce the risk to the public. We must not shirk from facing this constant challenge and the responsibility that goes with our role at the heart of public protection.

The publication of the Annual Report and Accounts today coincides with the broadcasting of the first in a major BBC documentary series on the work of the Parole Board. The series, which has been two-years in the making, is the first one ever to be given full access to the whole parole process from inside prison, through the parole hearing and following prisoners released into the community or kept in custody.

The series starts at 9.00pm tonight (6th November) on BBC2 and is followed by further programmes at the same time on Monday 13th and Monday 20th November, all on BBC2.

Notes to Editors

The Parole Board is the independent body that protects the public by making risk assessments about prisoners to decide who may safely be released into the community and who must remain in or be returned to custody. The Parole Board was established under the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 1967 to advise the Home Secretary on the early release of prisoners. The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 established the Board as an Executive Non-Departmental Public Body.

The Parole Boards aims and objectives are linked closely with those of the Home Office in seeking to reduce re-offending and in protecting the public.  The Board works closely with the Home Office, the Probation Service and the Prison Service, voluntary organisations, the legal profession and others involved in the criminal justice system. The Annual Report & Accounts 2005/06 have been formally laid before Parliament today.

Copies of the Annual Report & Accounts 2005/06 can be downloaded from www.paroleboard.gov.uk

For further information please call Tim Morris, Head of Communications for the Parole Board, on 020-7217 0564 during office hours, or on 07725-927954 out of hours, look on the Parole Board website at www.paroleboard.gov.uk, or e-mail tim.morris5@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

ENDS
PR/10/2006

The Parole Board for England and Wales

Grenadier House, 99-105 Horseferry Road, London, SW1P 2DX

Telephone 0845 251 2220