§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the average cost of keeping a prisoner in custody in Scotland; and what are the relative costs of the community disposals available to the courts including each of those programmes provided by(a) social work departments, (b) Scottish Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders and (c) other independent agencies. [1286]
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe annual cost per prisoner place at HM prisons in Scotland in 1994–95, calculated as total net expenditure—excluding capital—divided by the average number of places available, was £26,479. The average cost per order in 1994–95 of probation and community service disposals available to the courts in Scotland, were £1,588 and £1,446 respectively. The costs of individual programmes provided by local authorities, either directly or through independent agencies such as SACRO, as components of a court order, are not generally identifiable separately within the grants made available to local authorities for criminal justice social work services. As the duration, objectives and content of the community-based programmes vary considerably, the unit costs of individual programmes are not readily comparable.