§ Mr. MullinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will estimate the cost of detaining(a) on remand and (b) in prison the six men convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings.
§ Mr. John PattenIt is not possible to distinguish the costs of keeping particular individuals in custody. The table shows the average weekly net operating cost of keeping a person in a dispersal prison—the type of establishment in which these prisoners have mainly been accommodated since their conviction—for 1976–77 and subsequent financial years. Comparable information on costs for earlier years is not available.
10W
Average weekly net operating cost per inmate in dispersal prisons £ per week 1976–77 163 1977–78 187
£ per week 1978–79 232 1979–80 304 1980–81 369 1981–82 412 1982–83 433 1983–84 1478 1984–85 482 1985–86 469 1986–87 467 1 From 1983–84 onwards the figures have been compiled on a slightly different basis. Source: Annual reports on the work of the Prison Department.
§ Mr. MullinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will estimate the cost of the various police investigations into the Birmingham pub bombings of 21 November 1974.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggI understand from the chief constable of the West Midlands police that no separate record of the cost of the public investigations into the Birmingham pub bombings was kept at the time of the investigations, and that it is not now possible to make an estimate of the cost.
§ Mr. MullinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will estimate the cost of the inquiry by the Devon and Cornwall police into allegations made by former PC Tom Clarke regarding the treatment in custody of the six men convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggI understand from the chief constable of Devon and Cornwall that his present estimate of the total cost is £444,000.