Appointment details

Chair of the Parole Board

Summary

• Organisation: Parole Board, with the exception of judicial members
• Sponsor department: Ministry of Justice
• Location: Various
• Sectors: Judicial, Prisons & Policing
• Skills: Judicial, Regulation
• Number of vacancies: 1
• Time commitment: 2 day(s) per week
• Remuneration: £500 per day
• Length of term: 5 years
• Application deadline: 11am on 25 November 2024

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Timeline for this appointment

1. Opening date

   28 October 2024

2. Application deadline

   11am on 25 November 2024

3. Sifting date

   10 December 2024

4. Interviews expected to end on

   4 February 2025

Timeline dates are only an estimate and can change

About the appointment

Introduction from the Minister

A message from the Secretary of State for Justice.

Thank you for your interest in becoming Chair of the Parole Board for England and Wales.

The Parole Board is an independent body that works with other criminal justice agencies and carries out risk assessments of prisoners to determine whether they can be safely released into the community. Its work is of critical importance to public safety, victims and their families and individual prisoners.

Over recent years, the Parole Board has undergone significant transformation and modernisation, which has helped it to respond to the year-on-year increase in its workload as a result of a growing prison population. The Parole Board is now a largely paperless organisation, and for the first time ever, allowed cameras to film a successful documentary to improve public understanding and transparency of its role.

As Chair of the Parole Board, you will play an essential role in leading, directing and driving forward the work of the Parole Board, its Management Committee and its membership to continue to deliver improvements to the parole system that make the system more effective and efficient for all parties, whilst ensuring the Board’s central role of assessing risk is at the forefront of its work.

The successful candidate must be a strong and inclusive leader who can set direction, work with a range of people and provide fresh insights and challenge.

This is a critical role, focused on protecting the public comes, and comes at a crucial time for the prison system, where the increase in the population is reflected in record levels of cases entering the parole system. The new Chair will seek to work constructively with the MoJ as part of the wider criminal justice response to the prison capacity crisis.

If you have questions about the post or appointment process, please contact publicappointmentsteam@justice.gov.uk

If you believe you have the experience and qualities we are seeking, I hope you consider applying for this important position.

The Rt Hon Shabana Mahmood MP, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice

Appointment description

The Parole Board plays a vital part in the criminal justice system by ensuring public protection and in supporting the rehabilitation of prisoners.

If appointed, you will lead a high profile and complex organisation to successfully deal with current and future challenges. You will be supported by the Vice-Chair to ensure that the Board’s legal and policy framework is up to date for members.

The chair will have the following responsibilities/duties:

• Providing effective leadership and direction to the Parole Board’s Management Committee.
•  Co-creating, with the CEO, a strategy for the long term future of the Parole Board.
• Providing support and challenge to the executive team to ensure they are held to account in delivering their goals and strategic vision for the organisation.

• Promoting the efficient and effective use of the Parole Board’s staff, members and other resources. 

• Own the relationship with the Parole Board’s key stakeholders including the MoJ’s ministerial team and Permanent Secretary, the media and the public to raise awareness of the Board’s functions and purpose and to promote its independence.

• Promoting the highest standards of integrity, probity, and corporate governance, ensuring that Parole Board complies with all governance requirements.

• Ensuring the organisation is performing against agreed commitments and key performance indicators.

• Taking such steps as considered appropriate to adapt to future policy changes and to align with MoJ strategic priorities.

• Lead the Parole Board’s membership.

Person specification

The position of Chair is challenging but rewarding and requires an exceptional individual to provide first class leadership. Applications are sought from candidates who can command the confidence of stakeholders and can ensure the effective and efficient running of the Parole Board.

You will need to demonstrate in your written application examples where your experience matches the essential criteria listed below.

Organisation description

The Parole Board works to protect the public by risk assessing prisoners to decide whether they can safely be released into the community. It was established under the Criminal Justice Act 1967, and is classified as a Non Departmental Public Body, that makes independent and impartial decisions.

It sits as a court-like body and makes risk assessments which are rigorous, fair and timely, based on information supplied by the prisoner, the prison and probation service and other expert witnesses.

Parole Board decisions are solely focused on whether a prisoner would represent a significant risk to the public after release. The risk assessment is based on detailed evidence found in the dossier (a collection of documents relating to the prisoner) and evidence provided at the oral hearing.

The Parole Board is responsible for considering parole reviews for prisoners serving indeterminate sentences – sometimes called ‘life’ sentences – where the sentence has no end date. It also considers certain types of determinate sentence cases - where there is an end to the sentence – and some prisoners who have been sent back, or ‘recalled’, to prison.

To be eligible for parole, a prisoner will have served the minimum ‘tariff’, or punishment part of their sentence, set by the courts. Prisoners eligible for parole are only released into the community if the Parole Board decides it is safe to do so.

An offender released on a parole licence continues to serve the rest of their sentence in the community while being supervised by the Probation Service. This is known as ‘release on licence’ or parole.

The Parole Board’s work is of critical importance to public safety, as well as prisoners and their families but the Parole Board also has a wider role in maintaining public confidence in the justice system.

To read more about the Parole Board and its work click here.

Regulation of appointment

This post is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. For more information, please refer to the Commissioner’s website 

Person specification

Essential criteria

·       Outstanding leadership skills, with the ability to provide innovative and inclusive direction.

·       Ability to lead, support and challenge the Management Committee in setting the strategic direction of the organisation and advise on objectives and priorities.

·       Governance experience with expertise in strategic planning, corporate governance, internal controls and performance management in the public sector context. 

·       A proven track record in financial management of large budgets and securing value for money.

·       Excellent communication and relationship management skills. The ability to represent the Parole Board to a wide range of stakeholder groups, and defend the role and decisions of the Parole Board against internal and external challenge.

·       The ability to analyse complex information and make difficult decisions under pressure.

·       An understanding of the key challenges and opportunities facing the criminal justice system.

Desirable criteria

·       An understanding of the policy, operational, political and media landscape in which the Parole Board works.

·       A demonstrable commitment to fairness, justice and valuing the protection of the public.

Application and selection process

How to apply

In order to apply you will need to create an account or sign in.

Once you are logged into your account, click on 'apply for this role' and follow the on-screen instructions. To apply, all candidates are required to provide:

• a Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• a supporting statement (maximum 2 sides) highlighting your suitability for the role and how you meet the person specification. Please note that the covering letter is an important part of your application and will be assessed.
• equality information
• information relating to any outside interests or reputational issues

We will ask you to check and confirm your personal details to ensure your application is accurate.

You will also have the opportunity to make a reasonable adjustment request or apply under the disability confident scheme before you submit your application.

Overview of the application process

Public appointments are made on merit following a fair and open competition process which is conducted in accordance with the Governance Code for Public Appointments. We will deal with your application as quickly as possible and will keep you informed at key stages. We aim to conclude the appointment process within three months of the deadline for applications – this is in accordance with the Governance Code.

The assessment process

1. Ministers are responsible and accountable to Parliament for the public appointments made within their department. As a result, they must be consulted at every stage of the appointments process.

2. An Advisory Assessment Panel (“Panel”) is appointed by Ministers to assist them in their decision making. The role of the Panel is to decide, objectively, which candidates meet the eligibility criteria for the role.

3. At the shortlisting meeting the Panel will assess applications against the eligibility criteria and decide which candidates have best met the criteria, who should be recommended for interview. Ministers will then be consulted on the Panel’s recommended shortlist. If you have applied under the Disability Confident Scheme and you meet all the essential criteria, then you will also be invited for an interview.

4. Once the shortlist has been agreed by Ministers, you will be advised (by e-mail) whether you have been shortlisted. Those shortlisted will be invited to an interview.

5. The Panel will meet again to interview candidates and determine who is appointable to the role. The Panel may invite you to make a brief presentation at the start of the interview and will go on to question you about your skills and experience, including asking specific questions to assess whether you meet the criteria set out for the post. The Panel will also explore with you any potential conflicts of interest or any other issues arising from your personal and professional history which may impact on an appointment decision.

6. Details of the panel’s assessment of interviewed candidates are provided to Ministers, including whether they have judged a candidate to be appointable to the role. It is then for Ministers to determine merit and decide who should be appointed. In some circumstances, Ministers may choose not to appoint any candidates and re-run the competition.

7. Ministers may choose to meet with candidates before deciding the outcome. Candidates should therefore be prepared for a short time gap between interview and a final appointment decision being made. Candidates who have been interviewed will be kept informed of progress.

8. Once the decision on the appointment has been made, interviewed candidates will be advised of the outcome of their application, including whom they may approach for feedback. Successful candidates will be issued with their Terms & Conditions and a letter of appointment should they agree to take up the position.

Further information about appointments, including tips on applying, can be found on our guidance pages on gov.uk.

Advisory Assessment Panel (AAP)

Claire Fielder, Director Youth Justice and Offender Policy, MoJ, Panel Chair.

Mark Beaton, MoJ NED and Chair of the Parole System Oversight Group

The Honourable Mrs Justice Juliet May, Judicial Panel Member

Jody Chaterjee, Independent Panel Member

Advisory Assessment Panels (AAP) are chosen by ministers to assist them in their decision-making. These include a departmental official and an independent member. For competitions recruiting non-executive members of a board (apart from the Chair), the panel will usually include a representative from the public body concerned.

AAP’s perform a number of functions, including agreeing an assessment strategy with ministers, undertaking sifting, carrying out interviews in line with the advertised criteria and deciding objectively who meets the published selection criteria for the role before recommending to ministers which candidates they find appointable. It is then for the minister to decide who to appoint to the role.

Eligibility criteria

In general, you should have the right to work in the UK to be eligible to apply for a public appointment.

There are a small number of specialist roles that are not open to non-British citizens. Any nationality requirements will be specified in the vacancy details.

The Government expects all holders of public office to work to the highest personal and professional standards. 

You cannot be considered for a public appointment if:

• you are disqualified from acting as a company director  (under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986);

• have an unspent conviction on your criminal record;

• your estate has been sequestrated in Scotland or you enter into a debt arrangement programme under Part 1 of the Debt Arrangement and Attachment (Scotland) Act 2002 (asp 17) as the debtor or have, under Scots law, granted a trust deed for creditors.

When you apply, you should declare if:

• you are, or have been, bankrupt or you have made an arrangement with a creditor at any point, including the dates of this. 

• you are subject to a current police investigation.

You must inform the sponsor department if, during the application process, your circumstances change in respect of any of the above points. 

When you apply you should also declare any relevant interests, highlighting any that you think may call into question your ability to properly discharge the responsibilities of the role you are applying for. You should also declare any other matters which may mean you may not be able to meet the requirements of the Code of Conduct of Board Members (see Outside interests and reputational issues section below)

If you need further advice, please contact publicappointmentsteam@justice.gov.uk

Security clearance

The successful candidate will be required to undertake Baseline Personnel Security Standard checks in line with the Civil Service guidelines. Additional Security Clearance may also be required for certain roles. However, where this applies, candidates will be notified during the appointment process. Further information on National Security Vetting can be found on the Gov.uk website here.

Additional information for candidates

Equality and diversity

We encourage applications from talented individuals from all backgrounds and across the whole of the United Kingdom. Boards of public bodies are most effective when they reflect the diversity of views of the society they serve and this is an important part of the Government’s levelling up agenda.

We collect data about applicants’ characteristics and backgrounds, including information about people’s educational and professional backgrounds, so that we can make sure we are attracting a broad range of people to these roles and that our selection processes are fair for everyone. Without this information, it makes it difficult to see if our outreach is working, if the application process is having an unfair impact on certain groups and whether changes are making a positive difference.

When you submit your application, your responses are collected by the Cabinet Office and the government department(s) managing your application. The data is used to produce management information about the diversity of applicants. You can select “prefer not to say” to any question you do not wish to answer. The information you provide will not be seen by the Advisory Assessment Panel who review applications against the advertised criteria and conduct interviews.

Disability confident

We are a member of the Government’s Disability Confident scheme. We use the Disability Confident scheme symbol, along with other like-minded employers, to show our commitment to good practice in employing people with a disability. The scheme helps recruit and retain disabled people. As part of implementing the scheme, we guarantee an interview for anyone with a disability whose application meets the essential criteria for the role, set out in the advert, and who has asked that their application is considered under the scheme. Indicating that you wish your application to be considered under the scheme will in no way prejudice your application. By ‘essential criteria', we mean that you must provide evidence which demonstrates that you meet the level of competence required under each of the essential criteria, as set out in the job-advert. When you apply you will have the opportunity to select if you would like your application considered under this scheme.

Reasonable adjustments

We are committed to making reasonable adjustments to make sure applicants with disabilities, physical or mental health conditions, or other needs are not substantially disadvantaged when applying for public appointments. This can include changing the recruitment process to enable people who wish to apply to do so.

Some examples of common changes are:

• ensuring that application forms are available in different or accessible formats;
• making adaptations to interview locations;
• allowing candidates to present their skills and experience in a different way;
• giving additional detailed information on the selection / interview process in advance to allow candidates time to prepare themselves;
• allowing support workers, for example sign language interpreters;
• making provision for support animals to attend.

When you apply you will have the opportunity to request reasonable adjustments to the application process.

Principles of public life

The Seven Principles of Public Life (also known as the Nolan Principles) apply to anyone who works as a public office-holder.

1. Selflessness

Holders of public office should act solely in terms of the public interest.

2. Integrity

Holders of public office must avoid placing themselves under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence them in their work. They should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends. They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.

3. Objectivity

Holders of public office must act and take decisions impartially, fairly and on merit, using the best evidence and without discrimination or bias.

4. Accountability

Holders of public office are accountable to the public for their decisions and actions and must submit themselves to the scrutiny necessary to ensure this.

5. Openness

Holders of public office should act and take decisions in an open and transparent manner. Information should not be withheld from the public unless there are clear and lawful reasons for so doing.

6. Honesty

Holders of public office should be truthful.

7. Leadership

Holders of public office should exhibit these principles in their own behaviour and treat others with respect. They should actively promote and robustly support the principles and challenge poor behaviour wherever it occurs.

Code of conduct for board members

The Government expects all holders of public office to work to the highest personal and professional standards. In support of this, all non-executive board members of UK public bodies must abide by the principles set out in the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies. The Code sets out the standards expected from those who serve on the boards of UK public bodies and will form part of your terms and conditions of appointment.

Management of outside interests and consideration of reputational issues

Holders of public office are expected to adhere and uphold the Seven Principles of Public Life and the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies. Before you apply you should consider carefully: 

• any outside interests that you may have, such as shares you may hold in a company providing services to government; 
• any possible reputational issues arising from your past actions or public statements that you have made; 
• and/or - any political roles you hold or political campaigns you have supported; 

which may call into question your ability to do the role you are applying for.

You will need to answer relevant questions in relation to these points when making an application. Many conflicts of interest can be satisfactorily resolved and declaring a potential conflict does not prevent you from being interviewed. If you are shortlisted for an interview, the panel will discuss any potential conflicts with you during that interview, including any proposals you may have to mitigate them and record that in their advice to ministers. Alongside your own declaration, we will conduct appropriate checks, as part of which we will consider anything in the public domain related to your conduct or professional capacity. This may include searches of previous public statements and social media, blogs or any other publicly available information. The successful candidate(s) may be required to give up any conflicting interests and their other business and financial interests may be published in line with organisational policies. 

Details of declared political activity will be published when the appointment is announced, as required by the Governance Code (political activity is not a bar to appointment, but must be declared).

Status of appointment

As this is an office holder appointment, you will not become a member of the Civil Service. You will not be subject to the provisions of employment law.

Appointment and tenure of office

The appointment will be for an initial term of 5 years with an expected time commitment of 2 days per week. 

Appointments are for the term set out in this advert, with the possibility of re-appointment for a further term, at the discretion of Ministers.  Any re-appointment is subject to satisfactory annual appraisals of performance during the first term in the post. There is no automatic presumption of reappointment; each case should be considered on its own merits, taking into account a number of factors including, but not restricted to, the diversity of the current board and its balance of skills and experience. In most cases, the total time served in post will not exceed more than two terms or ten years in any one post. 

Remuneration, allowances and abatement

Remuneration is set at £500 per day. 

Remuneration for this role is treated as employment income and will be subject to tax and National Insurance contributions, both of which will be deducted at source under PAYE before you are paid. 

You can claim reimbursement for reasonable travel and subsistence costs which are properly and necessarily incurred on official business, in line with the travel and subsistence policy and rates for the organisation to which you are applying. However these payments are taxable as earnings and will be subject to tax and national insurance, both of which will be deducted at source under PAYE before you are paid. 

Pension and redundancy

This is an office holder appointment and does not attract any benefits under any Civil Service Pension Scheme. You will not be eligible for redundancy pay as you are not an employee. No other arrangements have been made for compensation upon the end of your term of appointment because an office holder who is appointed for a limited duration would have no expectation of serving beyond that period.

Application feedback

We will notify you of the status of your application. We regret that we are only able to offer detailed feedback to candidates who have been unsuccessful at the interview stage.

How to complain

We aim to process all applications as quickly as possible and to treat all applicants with courtesy.

Please contact Ashley Holliday of the public appointments team in the first instance if you would like to make a complaint regarding your application at publicappointmentsteam@justice.gov.uk. They will acknowledge your complaint upon receipt and respond within 15 working days.

How to complain to Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA)

If you are not content with the appointing department’s response you may wish to further complain to the Commissioner at publicappointments@csc.gov.uk.Further information on how the Commissioner handles complaints can be found on the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ website https://publicappointmentscommissioner.independent.gov.uk/regulating-appointments/investigating-complaints/

Data protection

The Cabinet Office will use your data in line with our privacy policy.

Your personal Information

In accordance with the Public Appointments Order in Council 2019(4)(5), we will process your application in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Ministry of Justice’s Information Charter, which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/personal-information-charter.

Your data will be held securely and access will be restricted to those dealing with your application or involved in the recruitment process. Your data may also be shared with the Commissioner for Public Appointments and other relevant government departments, including the Cabinet Office, as part of a complaint investigation or review of the recruitment process. Cabinet Office will handle data in accordance with their Privacy Notice https://publicappointments.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/privacy-notice. Your data may also be disclosed as required by law or in connection with legal proceedings.

Your data will be stored for up to two years and processed for the purpose of the recruitment process, diversity monitoring and, if successful, your personal record. If appointed, your data will be stored for the duration of your tenure and may be shared with the organisation to which you are appointed, unless you specifically request us not to.

Should you wish your data to be removed from our records, please contact publicappointmentsteam@justice.gov.uk

Contact details

If you have any questions then please contact publicappointmentsteam@justice.gov.uk