Parole

(asked on 30th March 2022) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the assessment of risk to the public in his plans to reform the parole process will include the risk of re-traumatising victims.


Answered by
Kit Malthouse Portrait
Kit Malthouse
This question was answered on 19th April 2022

The Government’s Root and Branch Review of the Parole System, published on 30 March, set out reforms that will ensure public protection and public confidence are at the heart of the parole process, as well as giving victims a stronger voice. We have announced our intention to amend the statutory test for release, to introduce ministerial oversight of decisions in the top-tier cohort of cases, to increase the number of Parole Board panel members from law enforcement backgrounds and to allow victims to make submissions to the Parole Board which the Board must take into account.

The test for release will focus on what is necessary to ensure that the public, including victims, are protected by making it clear that this is the overriding consideration. By allowing victims to make submissions to the Board, we will ensure that their concerns about the potential release of the offender are taken into account. We recognise that the parole process can be immensely traumatic for victims. For that reason, some victims will not want to participate in the parole process at all but others want their voices to be heard. Our reforms will ensure that they can do that.

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