Parole Board Essay

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ministry of justice Protecting the public: the work of the Parole Board REPORT BY THE COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL | HC 239 Session 2007-2008 | 5 March 2008 SuMMARy 1 The Parole Board for England and Wales (the Board) is an independent body which has the overarching aim of working with others to protect the public and contributing to the rehabilitation of offenders.1 The Board works with, and is dependent upon, other parts of the criminal justice system including HM Prison Service and the probation service in reaching its decisions to release offenders from custody. The Board is an Executive Non-Departmental Public Body of the Ministry of Justice2 and in 2006-07, its budget was £6,641,000.3 At the heart of the Board’s…show more content…
8 The Board wants to increase the number of judges, psychiatrists and psychologists it has as members to cope with its increasing workload but it is finding it difficult to find suitable candidates. We found that the Board is not always making the best use of its existing membership. In the 12 months to 30 September 2007, 22 of its existing members contributed fewer than the minimum number of days set out in the Board’s guidance. Members told us that some are not happy with the level of remuneration offered; the location of some hearings; the increasing risk of hearings being cancelled at short notice resulting in nugatory work; and the receipt of incomplete or late information for the dossiers.6 9 We found that the membership of the Board does not reflect the current structure of society in England and Wales. While the composition of the membership is equally balanced between the sexes, the average age of members is currently 507 and despite efforts by the Ministry of Justice to recruit more members from the ethnic minorities only four current members describe themselves as being

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