Corporate report
The Parole Board for England & Wales Annual Report 2025/26
The Parole Board has laid before Parliament its Annual Report and Accounts for 2025/26
Applies to England and Wales
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The Annual Report
The Parole Board’s overall priority is protecting the public, and it plays a vital role in doing so, by assessing whether prisoners are safe to be released.
During 2025/26, the Parole Board decided that 12,528 prisoners needed to stay in prison for the protection of the public and 3,140 prisoners were released. During the reporting year, the Parole Board continued to conduct the majority of its oral hearings remotely.
Our key statistics for the end of the reporting year:
- 8,835 oral hearings were conducted
- 12,528 prisoners were refused release at paper and oral hearing
- 3,140 prisoners were directed for release at paper and oral hearing
- 503 prisoners were recommended for open conditions at paper and oral hearing
- 2,338 decision summaries were issued. These have been made available mainly to victims, but also members of the public, researchers and journalists.
- A further 3 public hearings were held in 2025/26.
The Board also carried out a huge amount of other important work during this period:
- We commissioned an internal review into our transparency to take a holistic look at how the Parole Board can improve over the coming years. The Transparency Review was undertaken by HH Peter Rook KC and HH Michael Topolski KC and was published in June 2025 The Rook Topolski Transparency Review. The Board accepted all 34 recommendations made in the report and has already implemented several changes, including: enhancing audio-visual technology at public hearings, introducing written opening statements at public hearings and publishing redacted decisions following public hearings;
- Three public hearings were held during 2025/26, with improved accessibility and user experience. A total of nine public hearings have been held since they were launched in 2022;
- In March 2026, new guidance was published for public hearings, introducing a key change where the Parole Board now invites representations from the press and public when a public hearing application is received. These representations are shared with all parties to the case and published on our website;
- From April 2025, the opportunity for victims to apply to observe private parole hearings was rolled out in England and Wales. The Parole Board Rules make it clear that applications from victims to observe hearings should be accepted. We approved 82% of applications from victims to observe an oral hearing;
- A total of 110 new members were trained, a further 25 Panel Chairs were accredited, bringing the total number of accredited Panel Chairs to 154.
- The Parole Board terminated 354 (48%) IPP licences;
- 27 SFOs were referred to the Parole Board at the point of charging. Our convicted SFO rate remains low at under 0.7%.
Register of Management Committee Members’ interests
The below details any additional interests or personal relationships that Management Committee members may have with outside bodies or individuals which might, to their knowledge, conflict with the work of the Ministry of Justice and its Agency. It also includes details of political activities, shareholdings and sponsorships as well as interests of close family members/people living in the same household.
| Name | Interest held |
| Alexandra Marks | Recorder (Crime and Civil) on the South Eastern Circuit (appointed April 2002), authorised to sit in the High Court (since February 2010) and in the First-tier Tribunal (since November 2018). Presiding Chair of the Regulatory Tribunal, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (appointed September 2023). Lay Member of the House of Lords Conduct Committee (appointed November 2025). Chair of Discover Children’s Story Centre charity (appointed December 2021). Trustee of Standing Tall (homelessness charity) (appointed November 2022). | |
| Anne Molyneux | No interests to declare. | |
| Caroline Corby | Chair of Peabody Trust (appointed April 2024) Chair of the Professional Standards Authority (appointed February 2021) and a NED of the Security Industry Authority (appointed September 2022). Member of the Management Committee of the Public Chairs’ Forum (appointed October 2019) and a Trustee of the JML Charitable Trust (appointed May 2017). | |
| Cecilia French | No interests to declare. | |
| Alan Clamp | Chief Executive of the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care, Board member at the Intellectual Property Regulation Board. | |
| Peter Rook | Associate Member Red Lion Chambers, Member of Advisory Committee for The Sheriffs’ and Recorder’s Fund. | |
| Julie Dent | Chair of Colab, an Exeter based charity that provides services to homeless and vulnerable people including people in the criminal justice system in the community. | |
| Maneer Afsar | Board of Trustees for NACRO and Chair of the Standards Committee, Manchester City Council. | |
| Cassie Williams | Barrister specialising in Fire Safety Law at 33 Bedford Row chambers . Assistant Chief Examiner for Ethics at the Bar Standards Board. | |
| Keira Shepperson | In employment of the British Business Bank and holds 4 company directorships. Midlands engine investments limited, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly investments limited, Northern powerhouse investments limited, 55 Babington Road Limited (leaseholder). | |
| Ifty Ahmed | No interests to declare. | |
| Mark Hamilton | Director in Marshel advisory Ltd, A member of the Prison Service Pay Review Body, A member of the Enforcement Panel of the Utility Regulator for Northern Ireland, Associate of the Health and Social Services Leadership Centre. |
Updates to this page
Published 14 July 2026