Ms Caron McCaffrey:

We take a risk-based approach in transitioning people to open centres. It has been proved that open centres are more beneficial to people serving longer sentences. People require a period of stabilisation to deal with issues such as addiction and mental health issues before they are in a position to progress to an open centre. Not everybody when he or she comes into custody is suitable to make that journey to an open centre. There is nothing to disbar somebody serving a shorter sentence, or somebody serving a longer sentence, from transitioning if he or she is not deemed to be a risk to public safety and does not have these underlying issues. We do maximise the spaces we have.

Certainly from my perspective, and Mr. Graham picked up on it, open centres are great in that people have more autonomy but they are not looking after themselves. It is not like the reality they will face when they go outside. Their meals are prepared. They go to the dining room. A lot of the decisions for people are made by prison staff. I would like to move towards an independent living model so that people can work and shop in the locality, make their own meals and become more self-sufficient. Points have been made about digital literacy. That is very important, particularly for people serving long sentences. It is something to which we are turning our minds. In this context, it is particularly important.