§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on the present basis of known costs, what is the cost of imprisonment of a man serving 30 years in prison under conditions of maximum security.
§ Mr. MayhewDuring 1979–80, the latest year for which figures are available, the cost of keeping a male prisoner in a maximum security prison in England and Wales was £15,818. To project this cost over 30 years would require assumptions about the management of the prison system and of prisoners and future inflation rates that could only be speculative.