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<p /> <p>In March, we announced a package of measures to ensure that the public was
properly protected. Absconds and escapes have reached record lows under this Government,
but we take each incident seriously. As a result of a comprehensive review, we have
made major changes to tighten the eligibility for open prisons. Prisoners may no longer
be transferred to open conditions or allowed out on temporary release if they have
previously absconded, escaped, attempted to escape, or if they have failed to return
or have re-offended whilst released on temporary licence, unless there are exceptional
circumstances.</p><p> </p><p>The change in policy for eligibility for open conditions
was not applied retrospectively: the majority of these offenders who were already
in open conditions were allowed to remain. However, any prisoners who were assessed
to present an unacceptable risk in such conditions in light of their previous non-compliance
were returned to closed prisons.</p><p> </p><p>Progression to open prison is never
automatic. All prisoners undergo regular, mandatory assessment of their risk of escape
or abscond and risk of harm to the public. Only those who are assessed as having an
acceptable level of risk for conditions of lower security can be allocated to open
prison.</p><p> </p><p>As at 31 March 2014, there were no prisoners held in open prisons
who had absconded or escaped on more than one occasion between 1 April 2010 and 31
March 2014.</p><p> </p><p>There were 13 prisoners who, in the year ending 31 March
2014, either escaped or absconded from prison, having previously done so between 1
April 2010 and 31 March 2014.</p><p> </p><p>Data on escapes and absconds, prior to
1 April 2010 could not be obtained except at disproportionate cost due to changes
in recording practice.</p><p> </p><p>As part of business as usual, open prisons return
prisoners to closed conditions where they judge that they can no longer be managed
safely in open conditions. Figures for this ongoing process are not included here.</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>
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