§ Mr. StrawTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the number of people on remand846W (a) untried, (b) convicted unsentenced and (c) in total at the end of each month in 1994.
§ Mr. MacleanInformation on remand data for 1994 will not be available until autumn 1995.
Remands data include estimates for a number of police forces where data are of a questionable quality. It is not appropriate, for this reason, to give a monthly breakdown of remand figures.
§ Mr. StrawTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average cost of custody per inmate per month for those on remand in custody.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Jack Straw, dated 1 December 1994:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the average monthly cost of custody for prisoners on remand.In 1993–94 the average monthly cost per prisoner place was £1,893. This excludes exceptional items—the costs of holding prisoners in police cells and compensation for abandonment of plans to relocate the Prison Service headquarters to Derby.It is not possible to distinguish the cost of keeping different types of offenders in custody.