Pre-Tariff Review Solicitors

Pre-Tariff Review Solicitors

Our specialist pre-tariff review solicitors at Reeds are able to provide advice and help with a pre-tariff review and pre-tariff sifts for those serving indeterminate sentences.

Those serving indeterminate sentences (where there is no set date for release), such as a life or IPP sentence will automatically receive a minimum tariff. This is the minimum amount of time a person must serve in prison before being considered for release.

We understand what an important, and often urgent, process a pre-tariff review is for those with indeterminate sentences. Our Prison Law team provide help with submitting written representations or at Oral Hearings.

It is important that you contact us immediately when you or someone you know is facing a pre-tariff sift or review on 01865 592670 or complete enquiry form on our contact page here. Alternatively please email prisonlaw@reeds.co.uk 

Help With Written Representations

Our solicitors are able to help with written representations to the Parole Board. These representations can be included in a parole dossier and provide evidence as to why someone should be granted release or transfer to open conditions.

Written representations may include items such as:

    • Why someone believes they should be released or transferred to open conditions

    • Why someone believes they are less of a risk, both to themselves and the public

    • The positive behaviour exhibited in prison, such as education, courses, work etc.

    • Whether the information in the parole dossier is correct

When to Contact Us

You must contact us as soon as you are issued notice of your review so that we can secure funding and advise all parties that we are assisting you.

Call our pre-tariff review solicitors today on 01865 592670 to discuss your case or complete enquiry form on our contact page here. Alternatively, please email prisonlaw@reeds.co.uk

Nicola Maynard - Reeds Solicitors
Nicola Maynard

Partner, Solicitor & Head of Prison Law

Meet the team

How We Can Help

Our Prison Law Solicitors are some of the most experienced in the country. Many are also specialists in Criminal Defence law. We are instructed by people from across England and Wales and are known for our hard work, intelligence, and focus on protecting our clients’ best interests.

Regardless of what happened to result in you being held in custody, you have a series of fundamental human rights that must be observed. We are dedicated to ensuring our clients receive fair parole hearings and ‘nickings’ adjudications.

Although people aged between 18-25 are not sent to full adult prisons, they are often vulnerable. We provide expert advice and representation on all legal problems you may encounter in prison and explain things in plain English.

Our Prison Law Solicitors can help you with a full range of matters, including but not limited to sentence calculations, determinant and indeterminant recalls, independent adjudication, parole hearings, and more. Regardless of how complicated your case is, we can provide the expertise and experience you need.

We are regularly instructed to help people who have received incorrect Sentence Plans or sentence calculation issues. We understand it can be hard to challenge sentencing issues, especially if you are being denied Legal Aid because you have been told you have not exhausted all the complaint methods available within the prison system. You can be confident that we will swiftly spot any inaccuracies in your sentence calculation or Sentence Plan and robustly represent you to ensure matters are corrected.

Get in touch

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

FAQ

A tariff is given to those serving indeterminate sentences and is the minimum amount of time someone must remain in prison before they can be considered for release. The Parole Board makes the decisions regarding any release or transfer to open conditions.

For indeterminate prisoners there is a pre-tariff review process. This means that the prison will conduct a review which is called a pre-tariff sift (PTR), at a certain point of the sentence (usually, up to 3 years prior to the tariff end date). This will consider whether the prisoner has made sufficient progress on their sentence to be considered for a transfer to open conditions prior to the end of their tariff.

The pre-tariff sift occurs before the pre-tariff review. The sift is based on paperwork produced by the prison, principally a record of a pre-tariff Sentence Planning Review Meeting (SPRM).

After a review of a sentence plan, the PPCS within the prison and Probation service will consider the progress of the prisoner. When doing so they will consider whether the sentencing plan has been completed and whether there is any further core risk reduction work to undertake.

The sift will assess whether there is a reasonable chance of the Parole Board approving the decision. If so, the PPCS will then refer to the Parole Board for a pre-tariff review.

This stage is not always successful. Some factors that may result in not being put forward for a pre-tariff review include:

    • Category A status

    • The OASys assessment concludes a high risk of harm

    • A proven adjudication for serious violence within the past 12 months

    • Someone who has attempted to escape prison

    • Someone who has failed to return from release on a temporary licence (ROTL) or has committed an offence whilst on ROTL

If the prison conclude the prisoner has made sufficient progress and there is no core risk reduction work outstanding, they will refer the case for a parole review.

This is the pre-tariff review (PTR) and is conducted by the Parole Board. This will determine whether a prisoner is eligible to be moved to open conditions.

Generally, it would commence up to three years before the prisoner’s tariff expiry date and tends to follow standard parole processes.

Pre-tariff reviews typically follow the same process as a generic Parole Process, which allows a 26 week period for dossiers to be put together and for the Parole Board to examine the case.

The Parole Board will undertake the risk assessment to determine the suitability of open conditions. However, they can only make a recommendation to the Secretary of State for a transfer to Open. The ultimate decision on this lies with the Secretary of State.

This differs from a release decision where the Parole Board can “direct” a person’s release and that decision is binding and does not have to be approved by the Secretary of State.

If the Secretary of State reject the Parole Board’s recommendation, then the next review will be the end of tariff review.

The Parole Board is an independent body that oversees the risk assessments for prisoners. They overview Parole Reviews and pre-tariff reviews.

Prisoners are entitled to serve written representations to the Parole Board in support of release. These will be added to the report and considered at an initial paper review, which is carried out by a single member of the Parole Board, At this stage, the Parole Board have the power to make one of several decisions:

    • They can direct release on the papers

    • Conclude that the offender should remain in custody

    • Defer/adjourn the review for further reports

    • Direct an Oral Hearing

If an offender did not seek representation at the initial review, they can still instruct a solicitor for an oral hearing.

The dossier contains also necessary information for the Parole Board to make a decision. This may include items such as:

    • Reports from the prison or probation staff

    • Reports from any other necessary staff e.g. a psychologist

    • Reports about courses or interventions someone has done to decrease their risk

    • Information about any offences and current sentence

    • Health information, if it is relevant

    • Any additional information from prison security

    • Any solicitor representation

This is not an exhaustive list, but covers some of the main points the Parole Board may consider for the pre-tariff review.

Our solicitors can help a prisoner prepare for their pre-tariff sift or review. It is important to have all the necessary paperwork completed amongst other things. This can be difficult during an already tumultuous time, so our solicitors are available to provide help and ensure all the necessary documents are ready.

To prepare for a sift of review it is necessary that:

    1. All risk reduction work is completed

    1. Any sentence planning targets are achieved 6-12 months before the Sift date

    1. All written representations are prepared

    1. Ensure all information available to the panel is correct