Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to ensure the adequacy of the number of members of the Parole Board required to review the number of prisoners needing Parole Board authorisation for release.

The Ministry of Justice keeps the number of Parole Board Members under review to ensure there are sufficient members for it to conduct its vital work carrying out risk assessments to determine whether prisoners can be safely released into the community.

A recruitment campaign was launched on 8 June 2020 to recruit psychologist, psychiatrist and retired judicial members and there are plans to launch a recruitment campaign for independent members later this year.