Guidance

Member Case Assessment (MCA) Guidance (V.4, Sept 2026)

Guidance for Parole Board members carrying out Member Case Assessment (MCA) work

• From: Parole Board
• Published: 24 February 2025
• Last updated: 7 December 2022 — See all updates

Applies to England and Wales

Documents

MCA Guidance V.4

PDF, 817 KB, 78 pages

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Details

This guidance is for Parole Board members carrying out Member Case Assessment (MCA) work. Every case referred to the Parole Board is required to go through the MCA process.

MCA is as a form of ‘triage’ because each case, at the earliest opportunity (the point of referral), is considered by an accredited MCA member who either determines that the case can be concluded on the papers or sets out additional steps that are needed for the matter to be determined fairly and swiftly.

The MCA Guidance provides an overview of the MCA process, options to members undertaking this work, and detailed guidance on best practice.

The guidance has been updated to reflect the following:

• The Parole Board (Amendment) Rules 2025
• The Parole Board (Amendment) (No. 2) Rules 2026
• The Sentencing Act 2026
• R (Hanson) v Parole Board for England and Wales [2026] EWHC 1723 (Admin)
• Changes to tiered listings
• Further guidance on Case Management Conferences
• New MCA directions template

This replaces all previous Parole Board guidance on MCA.

Published 24 February 2025

Last updated 7 December 2022 — Show all updates

1. 24 February 2025

   First published.

2. 7 December 2022

   This has been updated to include the most up to date guidance.