Public Protection

I do not think that the figure is as high as 90 per cent., but I am glad that the right hon. Gentleman has given me the chance to answer the question. There are two issues: first, face-to-face interviews with probation officers as people leave prison; and secondly, face-to-face interviews by the Parole Board as it makes its decisions about what to do. It is our policy to ensure face-to-face interviews with probation for all people coming up for parole. That does not always happen, as the right hon. Gentleman says, but our policy is to reach 100 per cent. As for the Parole Board panel’s assessment of particular individuals, there has been some controversy over the past two or three years about the extent to which face-to-face interviews should take place. Some of that is based on professional grounds as to whether it is the best way of dealing with the case, and some of it is based on resources grounds. I discussed this some weeks ago with Sir Duncan Nichol, the chairman of the Parole Board. I said that I want to be clear about the professional basis, and then whatever resources are necessary will be made available to the Parole Board to do what needs to be done. On the first point—interviews with probation as people leave prison—the right hon. Gentleman is entirely correct. We are taking the 100 per cent. route, but there is a journey to travel, although it is not as far as he says. Parole Board interviews are a matter of professional judgment about the right way to make those assessments, with face-to-face interviews being part of that process.