Rioters and people smugglers to be moved to open prisons early
Serious offenders, including rioters and people smugglers, will be transferred early to open prisons to tackle the jail overcrowding crisis, governors have warned.
The Prison Governors' Association (PGA) said it was 'concerned' by a rule change that will allow potentially dangerous criminals to be moved to open prisons up to three years before they are due to be released.
It could mean criminals serving sentences of more than seven years will be transferred within two weeks of being jailed, the PGA said.
Among the eligible prisoners are human traffickers bringing in migrants for forced labour, offenders convicted of rioting or violent disorder, criminals caught with guns, class A drug dealers, motorists who have caused serious injury by dangerous driving and fraudsters.
The rule, known as TPRS36, which takes effect on Friday, introduces a 'presumption' that offenders who meet certain risk and offence criteria should be transferred to open prisons three years before their automatic scheduled release date.
Governors will make the final decision on transfers, but the PGA said they would only have limited discretion, in exceptional circumstances, to reject moves to open prisons
While closed category A to C prisons remain overcrowded, there is space within category D open prisons.
However, open prisons have minimal security with no physical barriers such as high walls, fences and secure gates and less supervision by officers to stop offenders from simply walking out.
Accommodation is more akin to student digs, with eligible inmates allowed to spend most of their day away from the prison on licence to work, attend education or participate in other resettlement programmes.
Tom Wheatley, PGA president, said: 'Open prisons are not a suitable place to house men that have been very recently sentenced for serious offences without any risk assessment.
'To ask the governor to decide that such risk is 'wholly unacceptable', given eligibility after just 14 days, is too short a time to make any such assessment and therefore to protect the public. It is also not what victims of crime expect, nor what the courts intend.
'This is simply a scheme to manage the lack of suitable prison capacity and, having already released many low-risk offenders, it is becoming difficult to use the capacity in open prisons. If TPRS36 rules were not used, many of these men would remain in the closed prison estate safely behind walls and fences.'
Eligible prisoners include those serving standard determinate sentences, where they are eligible for release 40 per cent of the way through their terms, no history of escape attempts, have served at least 14 days of their time and have a 'low or medium' risk of causing serious harm on release.
Terrorists, sex offenders, violent offenders serving sentences of more than four years and stalkers are excluded.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: 'We are building new prisons and are on track for 14,000 places by 2031 – the largest expansion since the Victorians.
'Our sentencing reforms will also force prisoners to earn their way to release or face longer in jail for bad behaviour, while ensuring the most dangerous offenders can be kept off the streets.
'Only certain thoroughly risk-assessed offenders are eligible for moves to open prison and anyone found breaching the rules can be immediately returned to a closed prison.'
The move follows the introduction of an early release scheme where offenders are freed 40 per cent of the way through their sentence and changes so that violent criminals, burglars and robbers recalled to jail will serve just a month in prison.
The early release schemes are designed to tide the MoJ through until the introduction of its sentencing reforms which will see prisoners who behave well released as little as a third of the way through their sentences and killers, rapists and other violent offenders eligible for release at the halfway point rather than two thirds.
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