HC Deb 21 November 1985 vol 87 cc274-5W
Mr. Dickens

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what criteria parole is granted to prisoners with convictions involving violence, indecency, rape or neglect towards children; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Mellor

Under the provisions of section 60 of the Criminal Justice Act 1967 and section 35 of the Criminal Justice Act 1972, my right hon. Friend may release a prisoner on parole only if recommended to do so by the Parole Board or, in certain classes of cases agreed with the board, by local review committees, but he is not obliged to accept their recommendation. The criteria for selection for parole are set out in appendix I of the Parole Board's report for 1984, a copy of which is in the Library. They take account of the more restricted policy on parole for prisoners with sentences of over five years for offences of violence and drug trafficking announced by the then Home Secretary on 30 November 1983 which my right hon. Friend, too, is now following.

Mr. Dickens

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how members of local parole boards are selected; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Mellor

The Local Review Committee Rules 1967, as amended by the Local Review Committee (Amendment) Rules 1973, stipulate that local review committees shall consist of the governor of the prison with which the committee is associated and not less than four other members appointed by the Secretary of State; that the committee shall include among its members a probation officer who is not a prison welfare officer, a member of the board of visitors or visiting committee of the prison and two persons neither of whom is a probation officer or a member of that board; and that no member of the committee other than the governor of the prison shall be an officer of the prison. Within these criteria candidates for membership of local review committees are recruited and nominated for appointment by the Secretary of State by prison governors in accordance with guidelines set out in Prison Department circular instruction 58/1983, a copy of which is in the Library.