Parole Board sets out plans for next three years

04/04/2007

The Parole Board today published its Business Plan for 2007/08, and Corporate Plan for 2007/2010 setting out aims, objectives and targets for the next three years. The Plans detail how the Board will manage a transformation of its work and workload as it moves towards an increasingly oral hearing based system. The Board’s main aim is the protection of the public and the Plans will provide the support and direction needed to meet this goal.

The introduction of indeterminate public protection sentences, brought in by the Criminal Justice Act 2003, and the impact of a number of important judicial review decisions will significantly increase the workload of the Board and in particular the number of oral hearings that we hold. Projected figures suggest that the number of oral hearings for IPP cases will rise from 500 in 2007/08 to 2,150 in 2009/10. Lifer oral hearings will continue to grow, but more slowly from 1,600 in 2007/08 to 1,800 in 2009/10.

In order to maintain high quality risk assessment at the same time as dealing with the increasing workload within tight resource constraints the Board is planning a radical rethink about the way that it goes about its business. It is also very aware of the need to factor in environmental issues in its developing strategy, for instance to reduce both the amount of paper that it uses and the distances that members are asked to travel in order to save money and minimise its carbon footprint as an organisation.

The Corporate Plan sets out a number of projects for the Board to help meet these objectives. They include:

• Better use of technology and electronic dossiers in appropriate cases to make significant savings in paper and postage costs. Thanks to capital funding of £120,000 from the Home Office laptop computers have now been purchased and are being rolled out to all Parole
• Board members to enable them to work from home using a secure internet link.  The funding has also allowed the Board to purchase its own video link equipment.
• A greater use of regional hearings and single members, properly trained and accredited, reviewing selected dossiers at home to achieve efficiencies in both members fees and travel and subsistence. Trials have already been carried out using regional panels, instead of always asking members to travel to London for paper hearings. This regional panel programme will be stepped up significantly over the next year or so.
• A greater use of video conferencing for selected oral hearings to make more intensive use of member time and reduce the costs of travel and subsistence. Following on from a two-year pilot scheme, the Prison Service has now agreed to roll out Parole Board video link oral hearings to all 75 locations within their video estate.
• A comprehensive environmental impact assessment so that the Board can develop approaches which will further reduce the amount of paper being used and the transportation costs of members and staff through the better use of technology.

The Corporate Plan for 2007 to 2010 identifies three strategic aims for the Parole Board:

• Aim 1 - To make risk assessments which are rigorous, fair and timely with the primary aim of protecting the public and which contribute to the rehabilitation of prisoners where appropriate.
• Aim 2 - To demonstrate effective and accountable corporate governance by maintaining strong internal control, setting clear objectives and managing corporate risk, and to deliver best value by optimum use of resources.
• Aim 3 - To promote the independence of and public confidence in the work of the Board whilst effectively managing change.

Parole Board Chairman, Sir Duncan Nichol, said:

"The next three years will see a transformation of the work and workload of the Board as the changes brought in by the Criminal Justice Act 2003 begin to take effect. One of the key challenges facing us as a Board will be to respond effectively to the implications of indeterminate public protection sentences, especially where the tariff is a very short one.

We will also need to consider the profile of the Boards membership as we move towards an increasingly oral hearing based system. Maintaining high quality risk assessment must remain our top priority and we will continue to focus on this with progressive plans for member development and accreditation.

A major change at the beginning of this three year plan is the transfer of the Boards sponsorship from the Home Office to the newly created Ministry of Justice on 9 May 2007. We look forward to the opportunities offered by the move and will commit ourselves to ensuring the change is a positive one."

Parole Board Chief Executive, Christine Glenn, said:

"The Board actively defends its independence and we will work to ensure that the Board continues to be, and is perceived to be, properly independent. At the same time we recognise our interdependence on others for the effective delivery of our mission to protect the public and we will continue to work closely with our partners in the criminal justice system to do just that.

We welcome the increased importance of the victim perspective and the development of the Government agenda around rebalancing the criminal justice system as a central plank to our agenda over the next three years."

The caseload projections are:

The Home Office has been unable to provide us with projections of our workload on determinate recalls beyond 2007/08.

Notes to Editors

The Parole Board is an independent body that works with its criminal justice partners to protect the public by risk assessing prisoners to decide whether they can be safely released into the community. 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 Board's 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 Business Plan 2007/08 and Corporate Plan 2007/2010 have been formally approved by Home Office Ministers.

Copies of the Parole Board Business Plan 2007/08 and Corporate Plan 2007/2010 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/1/2007

The Parole Board for England and Wales

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

Telephone 0845 251 2220