Prisons (Hansard, 19 December 1988)

§ Mr. Cox
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the prison population in England and Wales on 1 December 1987 and 1988.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
On 2 December 1988, there were 49,235 persons in prison service establishments in England and Wales and 937 prisoners in police cells. The corresponding figures for 4 December 1987 were 48,697 and 793 respectively.

§ Mr. Cox
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the present weekly cost of keeping a person in prison in England and Wales.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
Information on the costs of running the prison service is published in the annual reports on its work, copies of which are in the Library. The report for 1987–88 (CM 516) shows that the average weekly cost of keeping a person in a penal establishment in England and Wales in that year was £275 (see Appendix 6, Table D).

§ Mr. Cox
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the prisons in England and Wales that only receive inmates on rule 43.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
No prisons in England and Wales receive only inmates on rule 43.
137W

§ Mr. Cox
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the prison remand population in England and Wales on 1 December 1987 and 1988.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
On 31 October 1988, the latest date for which information is available, there were about 10,250 untried and convicted unsentenced prisoners in prison service establishments in England and Wales. A further 1,531 prisoners, most of whom were on remand, were held in police cells. The corresponding figures on 31 October 1987 were 10,550 and 910 respectively.