§ Mr. Murrayasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has reviewed the arrangements for the 63W release of prisoners on parole, in the light of initial experience; and whether he proposes to make changes in the system.
§ Mr. CallaghanI have reviewed the arrangements in consultation with the Parole Board, and I propose to make the following changes.
Under existing arrangements every prisoner is eligible for consideration by a local review committee, who reports to me whether they consider the prisoner suitable for parole. The Home Office scrutinises these recommendations and refers to the Board those cases in which the department considers there is a good prima facie case for release, together with some marginal cases about which the Secretary of State has reservations. Prisoners may be released on licence only when the Board so recommends, and I would normally accept such recommendations unless new and important circumstances supervened after the Board had reached its conclusion.
I have now decided that all cases favourably recommended by a local committee should be referred to the Board, whether or not the department agrees with the recommendation. This means that on occasion a case in which I could not agree to parole may be referred to the Board. Since the statute places the responsibility for release on the Secretary of State, I must reserve the right to disagree with the Board if they should make a favourable recommendation in such a case. Experience to date suggests that it is only rarely that this contingency is likely to arise.
The change will ensure that the views of local review committees, who devote much time and care to framing their recommendations, reach the Parole Board. Prisoners will also know that their cases have been considered by the Board in every case.
And the change will give the Board a wider conspectus of the range of prisoners eligible to be considered for parole.
The existing practice under which the Department scrutinises all cases in which the local committee has not recommended parole, and refers to the Board any of these which appear to merit consideration, despite the absence of a favourable recommendation, will continue.