Parole Board Oral Hearings 2016-2017 - Exploring the Barriers to Release: Stage Two of an Exploratory Study

Abstract

This is the Stage Two report of an exploratory study into oral hearings of the Parole Board carried out in the early months of 2017. Building on the pilot study, an additional 17 cases listed for hearing at oral hearings at 11 different prisons were observed in early 2017, and further interviews were conducted with a variety of participants in the parole process. Conclusions focus on the apparent culture of delay, and the paper makes a number of recommendations to strengthen the role and independence of the Parole Board, to improve processes, and to improve the support given to prisoners in the parole process. (It should be read in conjunction with the Pilot Study, submitted in November 2016. Both reports were originally confidential to the Parole Board but the Board agreed in November 2017 that they could be put in the public domain.)