I refer the hon Member to the reply I gave, the Member for Exeter on 4 September 2014, Official report, column 319W.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1453", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Andrew Selous"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "South West Bedfordshire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Andrew Selous"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2014-10-20", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2014-10-20T08:26:12.9014404Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2014-10-14", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Open Prisons"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners with determinate sentences with more than two years to serve until their earliest release date were moved to open prisons in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2011-12.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/230", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Ben Bradshaw"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Exeter"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Ben Bradshaw"} ], "uin" : "210430"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/79430", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/79430/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
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>
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>
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>
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>
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>
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>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1453", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Andrew Selous"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "South West Bedfordshire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Andrew Selous"} , "attachment" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/79430/answer/attachment/1", "fileName" : {"_value" : "PQ 206954 - table.pdf"} , "title" : "Indeterminate Sentenced Prisoners in open prisons"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2014-09-04", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "true", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "previousAnswerVersion" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/79430/answer/previousversion/18219", "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1453", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Andrew Selous"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "South West Bedfordshire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Andrew Selous"} } , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2014-09-04T16:35:02.57Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ], "questionFirstMinisteriallyCorrected" : [{"_value" : "2014-12-04T11:34:33.497Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2014-07-22", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Open Prisons"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many indeterminate sentenced prisoners were held in open prisons in the years ending 31 March (a) 2012, (b) 2013 and (c) 2014.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1565", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Philip Davies"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Shipley"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Philip Davies"} ], "uin" : "206954"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/77202", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/77202/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
An indeterminate sentence prisoner will be transferred to open conditions only upon a positive recommendation from the independent Parole Board following a full risk assessment or, exceptionally, without a recommendation from the Parole Board where a prisoner can show exceptional progress. The Justice Secretary recently announced that any prisoner with an abscond history on their current sentence will not be eligible for return to open conditions other than in wholly exceptional circumstances.<\/p>
<\/p>
Whilst the National Offender Management Service records the number of indeterminate sentence prisoners transferred into open conditions each year, its case management systems do not report on the total number of indeterminate sentence prisoners who spend time in open conditions in the course of a calendar year; neither do they provide data on the average, maximum and minimum time they spend in open conditions. In order to provide this information, officials would be required to undertake a manual interrogation of case management systems. Such an exercise would incur disproportionate cost.<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1496", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Shailesh Vara"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "North West Cambridgeshire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Mr Shailesh Vara"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2014-07-21", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "205145"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2014-07-21T13:18:21.0123009Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2014-07-10", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Open Prisons"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) average, (b) maximum and (c) minimum time spent in an open prison was for indeterminate sentence prisoners before their release in each of the last five years.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1565", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Philip Davies"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Shipley"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Philip Davies"} ], "uin" : "205150"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/77206", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/77206/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
An indeterminate sentence prisoner will be transferred to open conditions only upon a positive recommendation from the independent Parole Board following a full risk assessment or, exceptionally, without a recommendation from the Parole Board where a prisoner can show exceptional progress. The Justice Secretary recently announced that any prisoner with an abscond history on their current sentence will not be eligible for return to open conditions other than in wholly exceptional circumstances.<\/p>
<\/p>
Whilst the National Offender Management Service records the number of indeterminate sentence prisoners transferred into open conditions each year, its case management systems do not report on the total number of indeterminate sentence prisoners who spend time in open conditions in the course of a calendar year; neither do they provide data on the average, maximum and minimum time they spend in open conditions. In order to provide this information, officials would be required to undertake a manual interrogation of case management systems. Such an exercise would incur disproportionate cost.<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1496", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Shailesh Vara"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "North West Cambridgeshire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Mr Shailesh Vara"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2014-07-21", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "205150"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2014-07-21T13:18:20.9185589Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2014-07-10", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Open Prisons"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many indeterminate sentence prisoners have spent time in open prisons in the year ending 31 March (a) 2012, (b) 2013 and (c) 2014.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1565", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Philip Davies"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Shipley"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Philip Davies"} ], "uin" : "205145"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/77208", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/77208/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
To answer either part of this question it is necessary to look at the record of every prisoner who has been in an open prison and either absconded or breached prison disciplinary regulations in the last five years, in order to identify the date of transfer to open conditions and make a calculation. This could only be achieved at disproportionate cost.<\/p>
<\/p>
Figures for the number of absconds, by prison, since 1995 are provided in the Prison Digest contained in the Prison and Probation Trusts Performance Statistics. This can be found at:<\/p>