Member

The new clause would build on the success of that process by reintroducing the right to apply for annual review that was removed by the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024. At present, if a person’s IPP licence is not terminated when the Parole Board first considers it, or if they had already had an unsuccessful review at the point when the 2024 Act came into force, the only option for ending the licence is when it automatically expires after two years in the community without any recalls. Equally, the one-off nature of the current termination process means that victims are deprived of the opportunity to make representations between an initial decision not to terminate and an automatic termination. They are simply informed that the licence has expired automatically once a continuous two-year period has been achieved. This technical amendment would have a significant effect and would in many respects put the law back to how it was previously. I hope the Minister will look at that and respond when he replies to the debate.