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<p /> <p /> <p>I refer the Rt hon. Member to the answer my predecessor gave in June.
We do not centrally hold data on the number of prisoners transferred from closed to
open prisons for the time period requested or the time left to serve at the point
of recategorisation and allocation to the open estate. Consequently, the information
requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, as it would involve a manual
trawl through the records of every prisoner transferred to an open prison in the last
year to identify if they were over two years from their earliest release date at the
point of recategorisation and then allocation to an open prison.</p><p> </p><p>Two
years is considered to be the maximum time a prisoner should spend in open conditions.
However, assessment of a prisoner’s individual risks and needs may support earlier
categorisation to open conditions. Such cases must have the reasons for their categorisation
fully documented and confirmed in writing by the Governing Governor.</p><p> </p><p>Categorisation
and allocation to open prison is never an automatic progression. Public protection
is foremost in the decision making process. Only prisoners who have successfully completed
offending behaviour work essential to their risk reduction and whose risks are manageable
in conditions of low security will be allocated to an open prison.</p><p /> <p>The
earliest date on which an indeterminate sentence prisoner may be released from custody
is on completion of his “tariff” – that is, the minimum period to be served in custody,
as determined by the Court, for the purposes of retribution and deterrence. These
prisoners do not have fixed release dates, so even if the data on transfers was readily
available, it would not be possible to identify a length of time left to be served
in these cases. The vast majority of indeterminate sentence prisoners will be transferred
to open conditions only on a positive recommendation from the independent Parole Board.
Where they can show that they have made exceptional progress and where there are no
known or documented concerns about their risk of harm or risk of abscond, they may
be transferred without a positive recommendation from the Parole Board.</p>
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