Licence Conditions and how the Parole Board use them
A guide to what Licence Conditions are, which conditions Parole Board members can use in their decisions, and how conditions can be varied
What are licence conditions?
Licence conditions are the set of rules individuals must follow if they are released from prison but still have a part of their sentence to serve in the community.
The aim of a period on licence is to protect the public, to prevent re-offending, and to secure the successful reintegration of the individual back into the community. They are not a form of punishment and licence conditions must be considered necessary and proportionate.
Necessary means that the condition is necessary to manage the risks identified and no other less restrictive condition will be enough.
Proportionate means that any restriction or loss of liberty because of the licence condition is proportionate to the level of risk presented by the individual.
The general rule is that the restriction which the licence condition puts in place, must be no greater than is necessary to manage the risk.
Conditions must be preventative, not punitive.
In cases where the Parole Board directs the release of an individual from prison, the licence conditions will be proposed by the Community Offender Manager within the Probation Service but, in the majority of cases, will be approved by the Parole Board. However, the final decision on some licence conditions will be for the Secretary of State to make.
Standard Licence Conditions
All Parole Board release decisions will contain a set of standard licence conditions, which are as follows:
An individual must:
(a) be of good behaviour and not behave in a way which undermines the purpose of the licence period;
(b) not commit any offence;
(c) keep in touch with the supervising officer in accordance with instructions given by the supervising officer;
(d) receive visits from the supervising officer in accordance with instructions given by the supervising officer;
(e) reside permanently at an address approved by the supervising officer and obtain the prior permission of the supervising officer for any stay of one or more nights at a different address;
(f) not undertake work, or a particular type of work, unless it is approved by the supervising officer and notify the supervising officer in advance of any proposal to undertake work or a particular type of work; and
(g) not travel outside the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man except with the prior permission of your supervising officer or for the purposes of immigration deportation or removal.
(h) tell your supervising officer if you use a name which is different to the name or names which appear on your licence;
(i) tell your supervising officer if you change or add any contact details, including phone number or email.
The Supervising Officer is the Community Offender Manager.
Additional Licence Conditions
Licences may also include additional conditions, for example, exclusion zones or non-contact restrictions.
These additional licence conditions come under the following categories:
- residence at a specified place;
- restriction of residency;
- making or maintaining contact with a person;
- participation in, or co-operation with, a programme or set of activities;
- possession, ownership, control or inspection of specified items or documents;
- disclosure of information;
- curfew arrangement;
- freedom of movement;
- supervision in the community by the supervising officer, or other responsible officer, or organisation.
- restriction of specified conduct or specified acts
- extremism
- polygraph condition
- drug Testing conditions
- electronic Monitoring conditions
- Terrorist personal search
These additional licence conditions need to be specifically requested by the Community Offender Manager. The Parole Board will decide whether they are necessary and proportionate.
Other Licence Conditions
In some cases, a condition will be added which is written specifically for the individual’s particular circumstances. These are known as bespoke conditions. Bespoke conditions are only added to the licence where they are considered necessary and proportionate.
There is one other type of licence condition that can be added in certain situations: a compulsory licence condition. This is where a condition is required by legislation (set by Parliament) to be added to an individual’s licence if they meet the criteria.
A licence will always contain the standard licence conditions and any compulsory condition required by legislation. They may also contain any additional and bespoke conditions as approved by the Parole Board.
Victims and Licence Conditions
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Victims who qualify for the National Probation Service (NPS) statutory Victim Contact Scheme have the right to make representations about licence conditions that relate to them.
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They must be informed about relevant conditions that are included in the offender’s licence.
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This is a statutory right, detailed in section 35 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 (2004 Act).
In cases where the victim does not qualify for statutory contact, but where the Probation Service has used discretion to provide them with the Scheme, the victim receives largely the same level of service as those with a statutory entitlement. They will be able to make representations about licence conditions. However, not all victims provided with the Scheme on a discretionary basis will be eligible to make a Victim Personal Statement. More information about this can be found here: Victim Personal Statement - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Where the Parole Board has not agreed to a licence condition requested by a victim, or issued an amended version of the requested condition, the Parole Board will explain why in its decision. This should include reference to the principles of the request being necessary and proportionate.
This information will be passed on to the victim by their Victim Liaison Officer. This is a requirement set out in the Code of Practice.
Application to vary a Licence Condition
Community Offender Managers can apply to the Parole Board to vary, add, or remove conditions on the licence of an individual where a release decision has been made by the Parole Board and at any time when the individual is on licence in the community.
Victims signed up to the Victim Contact Scheme can request to vary or add licence conditions. Any request will need to be submitted via their Victim Liaison Officer. The Victim Liaison Officer will then pass it on to the Community Offender Manager to make the request.
Individuals can request for their licence to be varied or for conditions to be removed but must do so through their Community Offender Manager. The request will be considered, and a decision made about whether the condition (or variation) is necessary and proportionate to manage the individual’s risk.
All variation requests will be considered by the Community Offender Manager and then sent to the Public Protection Casework Section within Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service to submit to the Parole Board on behalf of the Secretary of State.
What will be considered in a licence variation request:
The Parole Board panel that chaired the case (either as a Paper Hearing or an Oral Hearing), or a Parole Board duty member, will make the decision on a licence variation request.
To make this decision they will look at:
- the dossier for the individual (provided by PPCS);
- the Parole Board’s decision to release;
- a report from the Community Offender Manager setting out in detail why the request to vary or revoke conditions has been submitted.
The basic rule is to ensure that the requested changes are necessary and proportionate and do not result in any increase of risk to the public. They should also be manageable.
There will need to be sufficient evidence that risk can be effectively managed if the licence condition is varied or removed. The Parole Board can ask for more information if necessary. A decision on the licence variation request will then be made.
Recall of individuals on Licence
An individual on licence in the community can have their licence revoked and be recalled to custody at any time during their licence period.
Where the Probation Service considers that an individual has breached the conditions of their licence, the individual’s behaviour indicates that they present an increased or unmanageable risk of serious harm (RoSH) to the public, or there is an imminent risk of further offences being committed, the Probation Service will request that the individual be recalled.
When considering the recall of individuals subject to an indeterminate or extended determinate sentence licence, the Probation Service must demonstrate a “causal link” in the current behaviour that was exhibited at the time of the index offence.
One of the following criteria must be met when assessing whether to request the recall of these individuals:
i. Exhibits behaviour similar to behaviour surrounding the circumstances of the index offence;
ii. Exhibits behaviour likely to give rise (or does give rise) to a sexual or violent offence;
iii. Exhibits behaviour associated with the commission of a sexual or violent offence; or
iv. Is out of touch with the Community Offender Manager and the assumption can be made that any of (i) to (iii) may arise.
It is the Public Protection Casework Section acting on behalf of the Secretary of State that will make the final decision about recall. The Parole Board is not involved in the decision to recall an individual.
However, the Parole Board will be asked to consider the re-release of all indeterminate sentence recalled individuals, and those determinate sentence recalled individuals who have not been re-released automatically, or through Executive Powers, by the Secretary of State.
Termination of Licence for an individual serving an Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) or Detention for Public Protection (DPP) sentence
An individual sentenced to Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) or Detention for Public Protection (DPP) has the right, under section 31A of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997, for consideration to be given to terminating their licence 10 years after their initial release from custody. This is regardless of whether they have been recalled to prison at any point during the ten years.
Following the commencement of the relevant section of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 on 28 June 2022, referrals to the Parole Board are now made automatically by the Secretary of State.
The individual can no longer make their own application to the Parole Board.
More information about this can be found here
More detailed information about Licence Conditions
For more detailed information on licence conditions and licences, here are some useful links:
HMPPS Generic Parole Process Policy Framework
HMPPS Recall, review and re-release of recalled prisoners Policy Framework
Managing parole eligible offenders on licence policy framework
HMPPS Licence conditions Policy Framework
HMPPS Travel and transfer on licence and PSS outside of England and Wales Policy Framework
Updates to this page
Last updated 20 March 2019 + show all updates
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First published.
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Cynllun Iaith Gymraeg Fel rhan o'n hymrwymiad i ddarparu gwybodaeth am barôl yn Gymraeg a Saesneg, erbyn hyn rydym wedi diweddaru nifer o adrannau ar ein tudalennau gwe i'r ddwy iaith. Welsh Language Scheme As part of our commitment to providing information about parole in English and Welsh we have now updated a number of sections on our web pages into both languages.