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<p>The number of indeterminate sentenced prisoners held in open prisons in England
and Wales, for financial years 2012 - 2014, can be found in table 1.</p><p> </p><p>A
life sentence is mandatory on conviction for murder. Under a life sentence, and an
indeterminate sentence for public protection (IPP), the court determines the minimum
period to be served in prison for the purposes of punishment and deterrence. Prisoners
serving these indeterminate sentences have no automatic right to be released. If released
they are subject to recall for the rest of their life or, in the case of an offender
serving an IPP, for at least 10 years. Public protection is the priority and the release
of indeterminate sentence prisoners once they have served their minimum term is entirely
a matter for the Parole Board.</p><p>Progression to open conditions is never automatic
and only follows a satisfactory assessment of risk, generally involving the independent
Parole Board in the case of prisoners serving indeterminate sentences.</p><p>The Parole
Board may recommend such prisoners for open conditions if, for example: they have
successfully completed any offending behaviour programmes identified in their sentence
plan as essential to the risk reduction process; their behaviour in custody is such
that it is considered that a move is appropriate; and their risks are manageable in
open conditions.</p><p>Once allocated to open prison, prisoners continue to be monitored
and are returned to closed prison immediately if there are any concerns about their
suitability for low security conditions.</p><p> </p><p>Open prisons have been used
since 1936, because they are the most effective means of ensuring that prisoners are
suitably risk-assessed before they are released into the community under appropriate
licence conditions. When a prisoner moves to the less rigid structure of open conditions
an assessment can be made in a relatively safe environment of how the prisoner will
adapt to increasing responsibility. For many prisoners, in particular those such as
life sentence prisoners, who have spent a considerable amount of time in custody;
these are essential components for successful reintegration in the community and therefore
an important factor in protecting the public.</p>
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