Parole for children and young people

What type of sentence have I got?

When the judge sentenced you, the judge should have explained what the sentence is and how it works. It can be complicated and if you are not sure your youth offending team worker or a member of staff should help you.

There are four types of sentence that when you are released may be decided by the Parole Board. If your sentence is not one of these, you do not need to worry about parole. You
might be able to get early release in a different way and a member of staff should tell you the dates when you may be released.

The parole sentences are:
(1) detention during Her Majestys pleasure (HMP Detention)
(2) detention for life (Life)
(3) detention for public protection (IPP) and
(4) extended sentence for public protection (EPP).

These sentences can only be given in the Crown Court and are for serious crimes only. There will be a time with all these sentences when you can be released on parole and the judge should have told you when that will be.

For the first three sentences above, this is the called the tariff expiry date. For the fourth one (the extended sentence) it is called your parole eligibility date or PED. The tariff expiry date or the parole eligibility date is the earliest date that you can be released. BUT you will only be released if the Parole Board thinks that you will not commit crimes and will stick to the conditions of your licence.

Remember the Parole Board does not have to release you just because you have been in prison until this time?

The first three types of sentence are called indeterminate sentences or sentences that are not fixed. If you have one of these, you can only be released when the Parole Board decides that your risk can be safely managed in the community and thinks that you will
comply with the rules on your licence. That means you are in until the Parole Board says you are safe to come out.

The first two sentences are very similar. The HMP Detention sentence is only used where someone has been convicted of murder and was under the age of 18 at the time. For both these sentences the judge will tell you when your date for parole is and is called
the minimum term or the tariff. This is the time you must spend in prison although you will spend more time in prison if you do not get parole.

Once the Parole Board agrees you can be released, you will only be released on licence. For both the life and the HMP Detention sentences, the licence is forever. This means that you can be recalled to prison if you break the rules. The recall process is talked
about below.

The third sentence, sometimes called the IPP, is similar but different from the first two. It is only given out if the crime is serious but not serious enough for a life sentence. This sentence also has a minimum time that the person must spend in prison. After that, the person can only come out if it is safe. But the licence is different. It may not be for your whole life, but will be for a very long time at least ten years. It can only be cancelled by the Parole Board when the Board thinks it is safe for it to be cancelled.

If you do not get parole and you are serving one of these three sentences, the Parole Board will look at your case again to see if you are safe to release. This will usually be a year to two years later.

The fourth sentence called an extended sentence for public protection (EPP) is called determinate or fixed because there is a time when you are automatically released and a time when your licence automatically ends. You can also apply to get parole half way through the prison part of the sentence. If you do not get released the first time and your sentence is long enough, you can apply again every year until the prison part of the sentence runs out.

All of these sentences are designed to protect the public from young people who are considered to pose a risk of committing further offences.

Case Study 1

Andrew murdered someone when he was 14 years old and got an HMP detention sentence. The judge said his minimum term was eight years. That means he will be eligible for parole after 8 years when he is around 22 years old. The Parole Board looks at his case when he is 22 but decides that he still has some work to do before he can be released home safely. His case will be reviewed between the age of 22 and 24.

Case Study 2

Katy attacked another young person in a nasty way when she was 15. The judge gave Katy an extended sentence with two years in prison and an extended licence of three years. Katy becomes eligible for parole after one year when she is around 16 years old. If Katy
wants to get parole, she must apply for it. If she does not apply or does not get parole, she will be released when she is 17 and remain on licence until she is 20.

Do I need to apply to the Parole Board?

You only need to make an application for parole if you are sentenced to the fourth type of sentence which is called the extended sentence.

For all other sentences, your application for parole will be put in automatically by the Government. The reason for this is that the extended sentence has a point where you will
be released automatically and so you need to decide if you want to apply to get out early.

If you are on an extended sentence, about six months before the first date at which you can be released (your PED), a member of staff should give you a form. This will ask you
whether you want to apply for parole. You can sign the form to say you want to apply. If you do not get a form, ask your key worker or personal officer for one.

Some extended sentences are quite short and so you may be given the form as soon as you are sentenced! If this is the case, you will need to ask staff to make sure that the Parole Board will have up to date information about you when they decide your case at the half way point.

The Parole Board for England and Wales

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

Telephone 0845 251 2220