Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has assessed the potential merits of excluding people convicted of violent offences from early parole eligibility.

We have interpreted “early parole” to mean a release direction made by the Parole Board once a prisoner serving a parole-eligible sentence has completed the minimum custodial term (tariff) set at the point of sentence and so becomes eligible for release. Eligibility for release at the discretion of the Parole Board is determined by the type of sentence a prisoner is serving. All prisoners serving an indeterminate sentence – life or imprisonment for public protection (IPP) – must serve the minimum term in prison set by the judge before they become eligible to be considered for parole. Prisoners serving an extended determinate sentence (EDS) or sentence for offenders of particular concern (SOPC) must serve two-thirds of their custodial term in prison before being referred to the Parole Board to consider release. By their nature, sentences which involve release by the Parole Board are imposed on the most serious and dangerous offenders, including those convicted of violent offences. In all cases, the Parole Board may only direct release if they are satisfied that it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public that the offender remain confined.

The recent Independent Sentencing Review recommended that EDS prisoners should be subject to a new ‘progression model’ but the Government rejected that proposal because we do not think it would be right to allow for prisoners who have been deemed dangerous by the courts to have their parole eligibility date brought forward.