§ Mr. Wheelerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current annual cost of the prison discharge grant in respect of (a) discharged offenders going to a place of no fixed abode and (b) those who return to a home address; and what the increased cost would be if all discharge grants were to be paid on the basis of no fixed abode.
§ Mr. MayhewThe estimated total cost of discharge grants in the current financial year is £1,830,000. Separate records are not available centrally for grants paid to discharged prisoners who are homeless and therefore have to pay for accommodation and those who return to a home address. However, a survey carried out over a 3-month period in 1976 revealed that approximately every third inmate discharged received a grant at the homeless rate. On this basis it is estimated that in 1981–82 about £827,000 will be paid to those who return to a home address and about £1,003,000 to those who are homeless and have to pay for accommodation. If all grants were paid at the higher rate the estimated increased cost in the current financial year would be approximately £1.2 million.