§ Lord Harris of Greenwichasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the maximum amount paid to a police authority or to the Receiver of the Metropolitan Police District in respect of a remand or sentenced prisoner held in police custody because of the present over-crowding in the prison system.
§ Lord EltonThe cost of holding prisoners overnight in police custody is not assessed on aper capita basis but represents actual expenditure on staff, accommodation, and other items, which is determined by various factors in addition to the number of prisoners involved, and necessarily includes some fixed and stand-by charges. The use of police accommodation is largely confined to the Metropolitan Police District where the cost to the prison Department between January and October 1982 was £1,725,865 in respect of approximately 17,168 prisoner nights.