§ Mr. PageTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for the metropolitan and county police forces the lock-up charges for prisoners, as invoiced to the prison service; and what is the annual total amount spent under this heading.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggIn the current financial year up to 31 January 1988, a total of £13,431,673 had been paid to police authorities for accommodating prisoners in police cells. This compares with expenditure of £6,152,858 in the financial year 1986–87. Charges raised by police forces are for actual additional costs incurred, but it is possible to calculate an implied per capital rate per night from the invoices submitted. The table shows the implied per capita rate per night for each police force which accommodated prisoners in the current financial year.
Police Force Implied per capita rate per night £ Avon and Somerset 73 Bedfordshire 66 Cambridgeshire 176 Cheshire 163 Cheshire 2113 Devon and Cornwall 144 Essex 44 Greater Manchester 45 Gwent 123 Hampshire 105 Kent 138 Merseyside 72 Metropolitan 201 Norfolk 55 Northamptonshire 102 Sussex 65 Surrey 149 West Midlands 21 Wiltshire 45 1 For prisoners held on behalf of North Region. 2 For prisoners held on behalf of South East Region.