John Worboys: Understanding the Parole Board

How does the Parole Board decide whether to release offenders on licence? Should it be more open, especially since the decision to release serial sex offender John Worboys?

Nick Hardwick, the Chair of the Parole Board for England and Wales wants its workings to be more transparent in order to boost public confidence. And he thinks we can learn from Canada.

David Aaronovitch is joined by a panel of experts to discuss the Parole Board amid public anger over the release of a prominent sex offender. He'll hear, among others, from a former inmate and a current Chair of a Parole Board panel, and will ask whether lifting the lid on the organisation's workings might appease its critics.

CONTRIBUTORS

Danny Shaw, BBC Home Affairs Correspondent

Ben Gunn, former prison inmate

Lucy Gampell, independent member, Parole Board for England and Wales

Mary Campbell, retired Director General, Corrections & Criminal Justice, Department of Public Safety Canada.

Professor Nicky Padfield , Director, Cambridge Centre for Criminal Justice.