§ Mr. Dewarasked the Solicitor-General for Scotland if he will estimate the cost of holding a prisoner in police custody from 10 am on a Saturday to 10 am on a Monday morning.
§ Mr. YoungerI have been asked to reply.
The fixed costs involved in maintaining facilities for keeping prisoners in police custody are not affected by the holding of individual prisoners over a weekend. The marginal cost of holding a prisoner for an additional 48 hours is attributable solely to the cost of supplying him with three meals a day. Since the Government no longer fix a standard meals allowance, expenditure on meals is subject to the normal financial disciplines of each police authority and will vary from one area to another. I would certainly expect, however, that the cost of six meals would be less than £5.