Parole Board Recommendations: Open Conditions - Question

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 11:28 am on 25 May 2023.

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Photo of Lord Bellamy Lord Bellamy The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice 11:28, 25 May 2023

My Lords, I am entirely happy to give the House whatever information it requires at any time, and I fully accept that a move to an open prison is potentially one aspect of a prisoner’s progression towards release, but in modern thinking, it is not the only route. A number of closed prisons operate prisoner progression programmes towards release direct from closed prisons, and those relatively new programmes are enjoying results. Several hundred prisoners are released every year from those closed conditions without, as far as I know, any evidence that that poses a risk to the community.