HC Deb 19 October 1988 vol 138 c881W
Mr. Latham

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will set out in tabular form, for the latest convenient date, the expenditure per head for inmates in each of Her Majesty's prisons in respect of food per week; and how this relates to the actual budget.

Mr. Douglas Hogg

The quantity of food for inmates is determined by reference not to cash budgets but to dietary scales designed to meet agreed nutritional requirements. Ingredients are supplied primarily from centrally negotiated contracts and from prison farms and gardens. The notional cost per inmate per week totalled £6.45 in the year ended 31 March 1988.