Authority for Policy
This service will be provided in accordance with current legislation including:
- Corrections Act 2004
- Corrections Regulations 2005
- Sentencing Act 2002
- Bail Act 2000
- Parole Act 2002
This service must also meet the requirements of all other relevant legislation, regulations, relevant Department of Corrections' policies, and such other instructions as may be issued by the Chief Executive from time to time.
Short Description
To enable informed decision-making the Department of Corrections (predominantly PS and CPPS) provide the New Zealand Parole Board (NZPB) with Parole Assessment Reports.
Parole Assessment Reports are prepared on prisoners who meet the following criteria:
- Prisoners eligible for release on parole who are sentenced to over 24 months imprisonment.
- Prisoners who are not eligible for release on parole, who must be released on their Final Release Date, and the NZPB imposes release conditions.
(This offender group refers to Serious Violent Offenders directed to serve a term of imprisonment before the 1 July 2002 and who must be released on their Final Release Date having served two thirds of their sentence).
- Prisoner applications for release from imprisonment on compassionate grounds.
For purposes of definition a Parole Assessment Report is identified as a report prepared by the Department of Corrections to enable decision making by the New Zealand Parole Board for prisoners meeting the 3 offender groups identified above.
The Parole Assessment Reports address a variety of information needs, which assist the Board in its decision-making.
Parole Assessment Reports must contain information on the prisoner including (but not limited to):
- Response to sentence management (including interventions) during the course of the sentence
- Additional or ongoing risks and needs
- Proposed special conditions on release, and
- Re-integrative plans and needs.
Service Outcome
Parole Assessment Reports are provided to assist informed decision-making by the New Zealand Parole Board.
Service Delivery Measures - PS
The key measures for determining service levels and for the Department’s external reporting for NZPB reports prepared by PS are:
- The number New Zealand Parole Board reports.
- The number of New Zealand Parole Board reports provided within deadlines agreed in the Board MOU.
- The number of New Zealand Parole Board Parole Assessment Reports prepared for prisoners (to be reported by gender).
- The percentage of New Zealand Parole Board reports provided to the standards in the relevant PPM and PS Sentence Management Procedures Manual.
Service Delivery Measures - CPPS
The key measures for determining service levels and for the Department’s external reporting for NZPB reports prepared by CPPS are:
- The number of New Zealand Parole Board pre-release enquires completed.
- The percentage of initial pre-release enquiries completed within 3 weeks of the request to be no less than agreed levels.
- The number of Residential Restrictions specialist reports.
- The percentage of Residential Restrictions specialist reports provided to the criteria contained in the relevant PPM and CPPS manual to be no less than agreed levels.
The criteria requires:
- Written reports in the specified format.
- Verification process specified or reason for no verification.
- Concise, logical and grammatically correct.
- Statement of recommendations consistent with the law.
- The percentage of Residential Restrictions specialist reports provided within two weeks of notification from PS to be no less than agreed levels.
Service Conditions
Units of Purchase
Number of Parole Assessment Reports.
