§ Mr. Iain Millsasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the cost to Her Majesty's Government of maintaining those serving life sentences in prisons in 1979, 1983, 1985 and 1987.
§ Mr. John PattenIt is not possible to distinguish the costs of keeping different types of prisoner in prison. The average net operating cost of keeping an inmate in custody during the financial years quoted below was:
£ 1979–80 7,072 1983–84 12,168 1985–86 12,792 1986–87 1— 1 Not yet available.