§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will publish as much information as may be available giving the actual or estimated annual or weekly costs of keeping a prisoner in gaol; whether a convicted murderer serving a life sentence is more costly to the taxpayer than a criminal found guilty of robbery; and to what extent there is any variation in costs.
§ Dr. SummerskillIn the financial year 1974–75 the estimated average weekly cost of keeping an inmate in a prison service establishment in England and Wales was £62. It is not possible to isolate the cost of keeping prisoners serving sentences for paticular offences such as murder and robbery, since these prisoners are held, along with others, in a variety of types of prison with differing costs.