Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he last intervened in a decision taken by a parole board; and if he will make a statement.

The Parole Board is an independent body with the statutory power to direct the release of recalled prisoners, indeterminate sentence prisoners whose tariff has expired and those determinate sentence prisoners who are subject to discretionary release arrangements.

Once the Parole Board has directed release, the Secretary of State must give effect to the direction. Exceptionally, the Secretary of State can apply to the High Court to have a Parole Board release direction quashed if he considered it to be irrational although to date he has not sought to do so.