Open Prisons

Steve Webb
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent changes he has made to the criteria for allocating prisoners to open prisons; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Hanson
Public safety remains paramount and there is no relaxation of standards. The Prison Service Instruction issued in November 2007 identified additional measures to ensure suitable prisoners are allocated to open conditions. This includes: arrangements to ensure that categorisation reviews take place at six monthly intervals for all prisoners in the last 30 months of their sentence; reviews after successful completion of Release on Temporary licence; and that prisoners sentenced to less than 12 months in custody be considered as soon as possible after sentencing.