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<p> </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. These prisons
also provide effective supervision for prisoners who do not require the security conditions
of the closed estate, because they have been assessed as having a low risk of harm
to the public and a low risk of absconding by the independent Parole Board and/or
NOMS.</p><p> </p><p>Indeterminate sentence prisoners located in open conditions have
been rigorously risk assessed and categorised as being of a low enough risk to the
public to warrant their placement in an open prison. They will have previously spent
time in prisons with higher levels of security, before being transferred to open conditions
if recommended by the Parole Board - or directed through NOMS.</p><p> </p><p>The main
purpose of open conditions is to test prisoners in conditions more similar to those
that they will face in the community. Time spent in open prisons affords prisoners
the opportunity to find work, re-establish family ties, reintegrate into the community
and ensure housing needs are met. For many prisoners, in particular those, such as
ISPs 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. To release these prisoners directly from a closed
prison without the resettlement benefits of the open estate would undoubtedly lead
to higher levels of post-release re-offending. The reoffending rates for those released
from open prisons are low when compared to all prisoners released from custody in
England & Wales.</p><p> </p><p>The requested information is provided in the table
below.</p><p> </p><p>These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems
which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with
data entry and processing.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
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