Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate she has made of lead times for Parole Board hearings in each year from the earliest year for which data are available to the latest year for which data are available.

The Parole Board has worked hard to reduce its growing caseload and manage the time it takes from referral to completion of prisoner reviews at both paper and oral hearings.

Timeliness of Parole Board hearings is not routinely published, however, in its annual report for 2023/24, the Board states that it had seen a reduction of 78% in cases waiting over 90 days to be listed for an oral hearing compared to the previous year: Parole Board for England and Wales Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24.

We continue to work closely with the Parole Board to further improve the efficiency and timeliness of prisoners’ parole reviews.