Month: January 2018

A victim can be kept informed of a prisoner’s progress by signing up to the victim contact service. This is a service that the National Probation Service provide and a victim will be offered the option to sign up when the crime took place, although a victim can sign up at any time.

There is only limited information that can be disclosed but this includes if the prisoner is due a parole review. A victim would not necessarily be told which prison the prisoner is held in, unless they opt to ask to attend a parole hearing in person.

Once a victim is aware that a parole review is taking place, they can decide whether to submit a Victim Personal Statement (VPS). This statement will go into the evidence presented to the Parole Board and the victim will have the option to attend the oral hearing in person, if there is to be one, to read out their statement. Not all cases are heard at oral hearing and many are concluded on the papers where a VPS will be considered and seen by the Parole Board panel.

The victim personal statement is about the impact the crime had on the victim at the time and continues to have in the present day. A victim can ask for certain conditions to be set, should the offender be released, for example to include an exclusion zone of where the victim lives. A statement should not include anything that relates to risk, but if a victim does have information that relates to how risky a prisoner is, then that information should be passed on to the probation service and they will consider including it in their report.

The VPS does not directly link to the decision. This is because the Parole Board’s focus is risk assessment which is not the focus of the VPS. If risk information is contained in the VPS it would have been dealt with as a separate matter. The VPS does allow the panel to direct questions to the prisoner regarding impact of their behaviour, insight into their behaviour, remorse, empathy and assessing licence conditions. It gives the panel insight into the original offence and the impact of those affected. It also helps the panel decide appropriate licence conditions, if the prisoner is to be released.

Writing a victim personal statement can be a traumatic experience and victims will be helped through this by a Victim Liaison Officer. The Parole Board has produced a booklet to assist victims in understanding how parole works, which is available here.

For information on Indeterminate Sentence Prisoners, use this link.

Indeterminate sentences carry a minimum term, or tariff, for the purposes of punishment and to reflect the gravity of the offence. Once an indeterminate sentence prisoner’s minimum term has been served, he/she is eligible to be considered for release by the Parole Board. The law states that the offender is no longer held in prison as a punishment and can only remain in prison if they pose a risk to the public. It requires a court, in this case the Parole Board, to decide that issue.

Whilst the Board is committed to ensuring that victims are treated with the respect and dignity they deserve, the Board is governed by statute. Parliament has, since 1997, determined that the sole task of the Board is to consider the risk posed by the prisoner at the time of his or her parole hearing. Deciding whether to release a prisoner is a matter of judgement, based on all the evidence presented to the panel.

The Parole Board makes these decisions by assessing the risk the prisoner presents to the public. It may only direct the release of a life sentence prisoner if it is satisfied that it is no longer necessary for him/her to be detained in order to protect the public from serious harm. If it is so satisfied, it is required to release the prisoner. The Parole Board is not legally permitted to consider whether the prisoner has been punished enough, instead it must focus solely on how dangerous the prisoner is.

When making its decision the Parole Board will take into account the nature of the index offence, the prisoner’s offending history, the prisoner’s progress in prison, any statement made on behalf of the victim(s), psychologist’s reports, probation officer’s reports, prisons officer’s reports and any statistical risk assessments that have been completed. There must also be a comprehensive resettlement plan in place.

Any indeterminate sentence prisoner released will be managed in the community by the probation service under strict licence conditions. Should a prisoner breach one of these licence conditions they can be recalled to prison.

Any indeterminate sentence prisoner not released must, under current legislation, have their continued detention reviewed periodically, but at least every two years. The date of parole reviews is set by the Secretary of State for Justice.

A ban on the manufacture of products containing microbeads has come into force today – a landmark step in the introduction of one of the world’s toughest bans on these harmful pieces of plastic.

Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey has announced that manufacturers of cosmetics and personal care products will no longer be able to add tiny pieces of plastic known as ‘microbeads’ to rinse-off products such as face scrubs, toothpastes and shower gels.

These damaging beads can cause serious harm to marine life, but the UK’s ban – praised by campaigners as one of the toughest in the world – will help to stop billions of microbeads ending up in the ocean every year. Alongside the success of the government’s 5p plastic bag charge – which has taken nine billion bags out of circulation – the ban puts the UK at the forefront of international efforts to crack down on plastic pollution.

Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey said:

The world’s seas and oceans are some of our most valuable natural assets and I am determined we act now to tackle the plastic that devastates our precious marine life.

Microbeads are entirely unnecessary when there are so many natural alternatives available, and I am delighted that from today cosmetics manufacturers will no longer be able to add this harmful plastic to their rinse-off products.

Now we have reached this important milestone, we will explore how we can build on our world-leading ban and tackle other forms of plastic waste.

Dilyana Mihaylova, Marine Plastics Projects Manager at Fauna & Flora International, said:

Fauna & Flora International has been working to address the issue of plastic microbead pollution since 2009, and we are delighted that the Government took such a clear stand on this issue and that a robust UK microbeads ban comes into force today.

We hope this ban signals the dawn of a new era in the fight for cleaner, healthier oceans, with the UK leading the way and supporting other countries to ensure that plastic will no longer reach the environment.

Dr Sue Kinsey, Senior Pollution Officer at the Marine Conservation Society, said:

We are delighted that such a robust microbead ban has come into force. This is the strongest and most comprehensive ban to be enacted in the world and will help to stem the flow of micro plastics into our oceans.

We believe that this signals a real commitment on the part of this Government to clean up our seas and beaches and hope this is a first step on this road before we see further actions to combat plastic waste.

Today’s announcement comes ahead of the government’s upcoming 25 Year Environment Plan, which will set out how we will be the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than we inherited it and create clean, healthy and productive oceans.

A ban on the sale of products containing microbeads will follow later in the year.