PART 4Termination of licence
Applications to terminate IPP licences
31.—(1) Where an offender qualifies to make an application to terminate their licence under section 31A of the 1997 Act(1), the offender may make a direct application to the Board or apply through the Secretary of State.
(2) Where an offender makes a direct application, the Board must serve the application on the Secretary of State and the Secretary of State must serve any reports or evidence as directed by the Board.
(3) Where an application is made through the Secretary of State, the Secretary of State must serve any reports or evidence at the same time as sending the application to the Board.
(4) Where the Board receives an application, either from the offender directly or through the Secretary of State, a panel appointed under rule 5(5) must consider the application in accordance with section 31A(4) of the 1997 Act.
(5) In considering the application under paragraphs (2) or (3), the panel may—
(a)make a decision on the papers, or
(b)direct that the application should be decided by a panel at a hearing.
(6) Where a panel considers the application on the papers or at a hearing, it must decide to—
(a)terminate the offender’s licence;
(b)amend the offender’s licence in accordance with section 31(3) of the 1997 Act, or
(c)refuse the application.
(7) Where a decision is made by a panel under paragraph (6), the Board must record that decision in writing with reasons for that decision, and that record must be provided to the offender and Secretary of State within 14 days of the decision.
Section 31A of the 1997 Act was inserted by the 2003 Act and has been amended by section 117(10)(a) of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 c. 10, and paragraph 141 of Schedule 16 to the Armed Forces Act 2006 c. 52.