§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will estimate the cost to the prison service of gaoling the men who are sentenced each year for the consenting homosexual offences of soliciting, buggery, procuring and indecency, including the cost of keeping these men in custody for the full terms of their sentences.
§ Mrs. RumboldIn 1989—the latest information available—178 men were received into prison service establishments following conviction for buggery and indecency between males. At 30 June 1989 the population held for such offences was 375.
The population breakdown between prison types and the relevant cost per week (1989–90) was as follows:
510W
Type of establishment Number Cost per week £ Local/remand 156 309 Training prison: open 11 218 Closed 198 257 Young Offender Institution 10 346 375 280 Information is not readily available for the length of sentence given or served for such offences. It is therefore not possible to estimate the cost of keeping these men in prison for the full terms of their sentence.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will estimate the annual police and court costs involved in prosecuting gay and bisexual men for consenting homosexual soliciting, buggery, procuring and indecency, including men prosecuted for homosexual indecency under byelaws, public order legislation and common law.
§ Mr. John PattenProsecution costs are not available in the form requested.