§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what indication he has of the number of people imprisoned over the last year for(a) non-payment of debt and (b) non-payment of court fines; what is the trend over recent years in respect of (i) the numbers in each category and (ii) the length of prison sentences for the people in both categories; what is the average cost of keeping an individual in prison; what are the average debts and fines over which the person was imprisoned; and what proposals he has to end or reduce terms of imprisonment for those involved in relatively small cases of debt or fine.
§ Mr. Maclean[holding answer 28 November 1994]: Provisional information shows that some 23,000 persons were received into Prison Service establishments in England and Wales for fine default in 1993 and about 17,500 between January and September 1994. A total of 2,020 persons were received for non-payment of debt in 1993 and about 1,330 between January and September 1994. Information for the previous 10 years was published in "Prison Statistics, England and Wales, 1992", tables 6.3 and 7.1 Cm 2581, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. Information for 1982–92 on the length of time served by fine defaulters and debtors is also published in "Prison Statistics", tables 6.5 and 7.1. The average net operating cost per prisoner per week is published in the "Prison Service Annual Report and Accounts, April 1992-March 1993", table D, volume 2, Cm 2385, and was £494 at 1992–93 prices.
The Government believe that wherever possible fines should be enforced by the range of other measures available to the courts without recourse to imprisonment. They have no plans at present, however, to remove imprisonment as final sanction for offenders who have failed to respond to other methods of enforcement.