Editing Parole (section)

==United Kingdom==

{{See also|Parole Board for England and Wales|Parole Board for Scotland}}

The Parole Boards in the UK are only involved in the release of prisoners with specific sentences. Indeterminate sentences (life imprisonment and [[imprisonment for public protection]]) are always handled by the Parole Board because they have no fixed release date. Some determinate or "fixed" sentences, such as extended determinate sentences, are also handled by the Parole Board, but for the majority of prisoners the Parole Board will not be involved in their release.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/guidance/our-work|title=An outline of the parole process|date=20 March 2019 |publisher=gov.uk|access-date=28 December 2019}}</ref>

The conditions of release are called a licence, and parole is called ''release on licence''. There are seven standard licence conditions for all prisoners:<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Gianquitto |first1=Lisa |last2=Rule |first2=Philip |date=1 February 2012 |title=Licences and Licence conditions |newspaper=InsideTime |url=https://insidetime.org/licences-and-licence-conditions/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707211323/https://insidetime.org/licences-and-licence-conditions/ |archive-date=7 July 2019 |url-status=live |df=dmy}}</ref><ref name="pblicence">{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/licence-conditions-and-how-the-parole-board-use-them|title=Licence Conditions and how the Parole Board use them|publisher=gov.uk|access-date=28 December 2019}}</ref>
# Be of good behaviour and not behave in a way which undermines the purpose of the licence period;
# Not commit any offence;
# Keep in touch with the supervising officer in accordance with instructions given by the supervising officer;
# Receive visits from the supervising officer in accordance with instructions given by the supervising officer;
# 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;
# 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;
# 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.

When a prisoner does not have to have their release approved by the Parole Board, further "additional licence conditions" may be suggested by the Probation Service and set by prison governors.<ref name="NOMS">{{Cite web|title=Licence conditions, licences and licence and supervision notices |date=23 March 2015 |publisher=National Offender Management Service |url=https://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/offenders/psipso/psi-2015/psi-12-2015-licences-conditions-supervision.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180302041204/https://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/offenders/psipso/psi-2015/psi-12-2015-licences-conditions-supervision.pdf |archive-date=2 March 2018 |url-status=live |df=dmy}}</ref> When the Parole Board is involved, the Probation Service may suggest additional conditions, but the Parole Board is responsible for determining which additional conditions will be added to the licence.<ref name="pblicence"/> If an offender breaks any of these conditions, they can be "recalled" or returned to prison.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/guide-to-probation/being-taken-back-to-prison|title=Being taken back to prison|publisher=gov.uk|access-date=28 December 2019}}</ref> Data reported by the [[Secretary of State for Justice|Justice Secretary]] [[Shabana Mahmood]] in May 2025 showed that recall numbers have grown significantly in recent years. The figures she quoted showed that:
*In 1993, 100 paroled prisoners were recalled to prison
*In 2018, 6000 prisoners were recalled
*In the year to March 2025, 13,600 prisoners were recalled.<ref>Mahmood, S., [https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/lord-chancellor-and-moj-permanent-secretary-prison-capacity-press-conference Lord Chancellor and MOJ Permanent Secretary Prison Capacity Press Conference], 14 May 2025, accessed on 17 May 2025</ref>

Since 2014 many of the probation and license monitoring functions have been [[Outsourcing|outsourced]] to [[private-sector]] "community rehabilitation companies" (CRCs) as well as the [[National Probation Service]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Grierson |first=Jamie |date=26 July 2018 |title=Private probation companies to have contracts ended early |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jul/27/private-probation-companies-contracts-ended-early-justice |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727020153/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jul/27/private-probation-companies-contracts-ended-early-justice |archive-date=27 July 2018 |url-status=live |df=dmy}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/national-probation-service/about-our-services|title=National Probation Service About Our Services|publisher=gov.uk|access-date=28 December 2019}}</ref> In May 2019 the government announced that supervision of offenders, including supervision of offenders released on licence, would be re-nationalised. The decision was made following multiple criticisms of the system which led Chief probation inspector Dame [[Glenys Stacey]] to describe the system as "irredeemably flawed".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48288433|title=Probation service: Offender supervision to be renationalised|publisher=BBC News|date=16 May 2019|access-date=28 December 2019}}</ref>