07 March 2008
The Parole Board lacks the information it needs to make correct assessments, a National Audit Office study has concluded.
The report – The work of the Parole Board – published on March 5 – warns that the board is not being given enough information to make decisions about the release of prisoners.
Head of the National Audit Office Tim Burr said the board had a central role to play in the effective running of the judicial system and was working hard to improve its performance.
However, Burr warned: 'If the Parole Board is to make decisions about the release of prisoners which are both fair and minimise the risk of harm to the public, it must have access to complete information. Currently that is not always happening.'
Public Accounts Committee chair Edward Leigh said: 'Too often those charged with judging whether to release a prisoner have to do so without full knowledge of the most important facts about the offender.'
Leigh said it was time 'heads were banged together'. He added: 'One of the core duties of the Ministry of Justice and the Parole Board is to deliver justice in a way that minimises the risk to the public. Public confidence will diminish unless those bodies start to get the basics right.'
The report found that the work of the board had increased by 31% between 2005/06 and 2006/07, and this meant that only a third of parole hearings for life sentences were heard on time. The report warned that deferrals could leave the board open to judicial review or compensation claims.
The additional time prisoners spent in custody because of deferred hearings and other administrative delays cost the taxpayer £3m between September 2006 and June 2007.
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