Inspection recommends improvements in arrangement to support and oversee the work of the PCNI

An inspection report looking at the governance and operation of the Parole Commissioners for Northern Ireland (PCNI) has highlighted the importance of its role in protecting the public from risk of harm but recommended steps be taken to improve arrangements to support and oversee its work.

“The PCNI is an independent body whose Parole Commissioners have a vital role in the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland.  They decide if certain prisoners are safe to be released from custody, they need to be kept in prison for longer or need to be recalled back to prison,” said Jacqui Durkin, Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice in Northern Ireland.

“To do this they need quality information from those who are working with prisoners and know them best, as well as the prisoners themselves about how risks of reoffending will be effectively managed, and each prisoners’ readiness to rejoin our community and how we will be kept safe when they are released.

“The Parole Commissioners also need quality support and administrative services from their Secretariat who are Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service (NICTS) staff and sufficient resources and policy direction from the NICTS and the Department of Justice (DoJ),” she said.

The inspection published today (24 October 2024) examined how the Parole Commissioners are supported to do their work not the independent decisions they made.   Inspectors looked at the strategy and governance and operation of the PCNI, how it delivered its functions and what outcomes it was achieving.

“The Commissioners and Secretariat staff we met during this inspection were incredibly committed to their role and there was a very clear understanding of their respective responsibilities,” said Ms Durkin.

“Inspectors found that the Parole Commissioners have coped well with a growing workload of increasingly complex cases and, unlike in England and Wales, there was no backlog of cases.”

However, the report reveals current oversight arrangements were not operating effectively despite the positive relationships that existed between the PCNI, the DoJ and the NICTS.

“Parole Commissioners fees and terms and conditions have not changed in a decade. This creates risks that individuals would not seek appointment as a Commissioner and existing Commissioners would prefer to do other better paid work and are not available to the PCNI,” said Ms Durkin.

It is essential that a sufficient pool of Parole Commissioners, with the required expertise and who are readily available to deliver an effective parole system, is maintained.

“Inspectors also found there was no strategic vision, ownership or accountability for the parole system including the PCNI.  It was unclear how those responsible for their oversight assured themselves the PCNI was fulfilling its statutory responsibilities and meeting the business objectives its funded to deliver,” said the Chief Inspector.

Ms Durkin said Inspectors also found a lack of data to evidence outcomes of the PCNI’s work and across the parole system.

To address these issues, Inspectors have made two strategic and four operational recommendations for improvement.

“Inspectors have recommended that the DoJ should review the status of the PCNI and improve its oversight and governance arrangements, ensuring that the arrangements are effective and good practice principles are adopted while respecting the operational independence of the Parole Commissioners.

“I have also recommended that the DoJ should work with representatives of the PCNI, the NICTS, the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) and the Probation Board for Northern Ireland to develop performance and outcome measures for the end-to-end parole system and deliver improvements across the system, to ensure it works effectively and efficiently.

The Chief Inspector expressed her disappointed that the NIPS had not accepted the operational recommendation relating to the development and implementation of a framework for DoJ legal representation at Parole Commissioner panel hearings.

“While I appreciate the NIPS’s concerns about costs and welcome the consideration of this as part of a future review, the issues highlighted in this report are long running and relevant to current Parole Commissioner hearings,” she said.

Ms Durkin said the report highlighted that the proportion of decisions made to release prisoners from custody where release was an option had declined and the number of prisoners released and then recalled was a concern, especially given the size of the prison population and pressures on accommodation and resources.

“There can be a range of factors that contribute to why someone reoffends or does not comply with their release conditions but effective rehabilitation, preparation for release and risk management are cornerstones in preventing reoffending and protecting the public.

“Not doing this well means prisoners are returning to custody, our prisons become revolving doors for offenders and public confidence in the criminal justice system is damaged.

“The Parole Commissioners depend on the effectiveness and efficiency of other parts of the criminal justice system to fulfil their role.  While recognising their operational independence, the whole end-to-end system of parole needs to work in a more cohesive and unified way.

“The implementation of the recommendations made in this report would support this,” concluded the Chief Inspector.