The Parole Board clarifies its position, and how this will affect prisoners on the early release scheme

Following the announcement by the Ministry of Justice about the early release of prisoners with two months or less left on their sentence, we would like to clarify how this will affect the Parole Board.

Prisoners whose release is a Parole Board decision are not eligible for this emergency scheme as this new scheme is specifically designed for low risk individuals nearing the end of their automatic release point. 

The Parole Board is responsible for carrying out risk assessments on prisoners to determine whether they can be safely released into the community.

This role has not changed, and the Parole Board will continue to determine if someone is safe to release, and are already in the process of seeking to review all cases via remote telephone or video hearings or an intensive paper review.