§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Newham, North-West on 24 June, Official Report, c. 156, concerning Mr. Fred Hill, he will give as much information as may be readily available without incurring disproportionate costs, dealing with the matters raised in that question.
§ Mr. MayhewI regret that there is no readily available information about the offences which led to Mr. Hill's 25 prison sentences or about the length or location of the periods he actually spent in prison; this information would be needed to calculate the cost of his imprisonment. Information about the average weekly cost of imprisonment in 1981 is, however, given in paragraph 81 of the report of the work of the prison department 1981, and similar information appears in earlier annual reports. The marginal cost of imprisoning any single additional inmate would in general be much less than these figures would suggest.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 24 June, Official Report, c. 156, to the hon. Member for Newham, North-West, he will give the actual or estimated costs involved in providing an answer relating to the cost of the occasions upon which Mr. Fred Hill has been imprisoned for failing to pay a £40 fine and the costs of such imprisonment.
§ Mr. MayhewThe cost of replying to the earlier question could be established with any precision only by taking the steps necessary to answer it, which would involve disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to establish to what extent the police have incurred legal costs in arresting and charging Mr. Fred Hill, a 73-year-old pensioner, for failing to wear a crash helmet; what manpower hours have been involved; and what costs on police time have been involved.
§ Mr. MayhewNo; this information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.