Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many absconds from prison occurred in each month of the most recent year for which information is available.

The number of absconds has reduced by 75% over the last 10 years. There were 181 absconds in 2014/15, one of the lowest annual totals on record. The annual number of absconds from prison is published at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-and-probation-performance-statistics-2014-to-2015

Open prisons provide an effective means of ensuring prisoners are tested in the community before they are released and to demonstrate a reduction in risk in preparation for release. To release prisoners directly from a closed prison without the resettlement benefits of the open estate would undoubtedly lead to higher levels of post-release re-offending.

The table below provides a monthly breakdown of absconds that occurred during 2014/15, the most recent period that statistics are available.

Table 1: Absconds from prisons, England and Wales, 2014/15 by month

Notes:

Figures do not include absconds from NOMS-run immigration removal centres.