When the Parole Board is considering the release of an offender from prison, victims enrolled in the Victim Contact Scheme have the opportunity to submit and apply to read out a victim impact statement. In this statement, they can talk about the impact the crime has had on them.
	To bring greater parity between settings, the Act allows victim impact statements to be made when the Mental Health Tribunal or Mental Health Review Tribunal for Wales is considering the discharge of a patient subject to a hospital order with a restriction order (a ‘restricted’ patient), pursuant to sections 37 and 41 of the Mental Health Act 1983. The Act sets out that the Tribunal may have regard to the statements when determining conditions of discharge, and that the statements will not be relevant to any other decision, including the decision to discharge the offender into the community which rightly remains based only on whether the Mental Health Act 1983 criteria for detention continue to be met.
	To recognise the fact that some victims want to read their statement to decision makers, the Act gives victims a statutory entitlement to apply to read their statement at a hearing, where one is set to take place. It makes clear that this application should be approved unless there are good reasons not to, in line with Parole Board practice.
Policy background Victim impact statements in the Mental Health Tribunal