Guidance for Parole Board Members on Young Adult Prisoners
The Parole Board has published guidance for its members on factors to take into consideration when reviewing cases of young adults.
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The Parole Board has published guidance for its members on factors to take into consideration when reviewing cases of young adults. The guidance focuses on information and advice concerning parole reviews for young adults aged between 18 and 21 (inclusive). This distinct group of prisoners, who are still in the process of maturing and who are often vulnerable, deserves particular attention during the parole process.
The Parole Board policy is for a presumption (but not an automatic right) that an oral hearing will be directed for a young adult between the ages of 18 and 21 whenever release on the papers is not possible. It should be noted that during the Covid-19 pandemic the policy was paused. While the policy remains paused in the meantime, the principles underlying the policy have continued and, as such, the guidance has now been published.
For Parole Board policy purposes, a young adult is defined as a prisoner aged 18 to 21 (inclusive) at point of referral to the Board by the Secretary of State . However, the guidance can equally be applied to prisoners in the 21 to 24/25-years old age group, where appropriate.
The guidance was developed following an extensive pilot of the “presumption” policy, and in consultation with a range of interested parties with expertise in the field of young adults.
There are a range of supporting annexes as listed below:
Annex A: Advice from the House of Commons’ Justice Committee Annex B: Maturation and Young Adults Annex C: Equality & Diversity Annex D: Young Adult Case Studies at MCA stage Annex E: Care Leavers and Care-Experienced Young Adults Annex F: Homelessness and Young Adults Annex G: Traumatic Brain Injury Annex H: Assessment & Interventions for Young Adults Annex I: Restorative Justice and Young Adults Annex J: Matters devolved to Wales Annex K: Further reading about Young Adults