§ Ms DrownTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total cost to the public purse of keeping non-criminal offenders (excluding fine defaulters) in prison for each year from 1992 to 1997. [50328]
§ Ms QuinThe information is not available in the form requested, as the Prison Service does not record costs by type of prisoner or offence. However, the average cost per uncrowded prison place, defined as current expenditure per baseline Certified Normal Accommodation, is one of the Prison Service's Key Performance Indicators. The figures for the years 1992 to 1997, in cash terms, are:
- 1992–93: £22,723
- 1993–94: £23,080
- 1994–95: £23,391
- 1995–96: £24,178
- 1996–97: £24,271.
§ Ms DrownTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of(a) men and (b) women convicted of (i) defaulting on a fine and (ii) non-criminal offences, excluding fine defaulting, were given custodial sentences in each year from 1992 to 1997. [50397]
§ Ms QuinThe available information is for the number of fine defaulters and non-criminal prisoners received into prisons. The table shows information for the years 1992 to 1997. Information on the total number of persons who default on the payment of a fine, and hence the proportion of those who are imprisoned, is not recorded centrally. It 267W is also not recorded centrally what other orders are made in the circumstances in which persons are committed to prison as civil prisoners.
Receptions into prison: fine defaulters and non-criminals, by gender, 1992–97 Fine defaulters Non-criminals Males Females Males Females 1992 18,782 1,044 2,968 141 1993 21,097 1,306 4,756 317 1994 21,015 1,454 4,217 290 1995 18,787 1,370 3,611 178 1996 8,094 461 2,994 134 19971 5,964 372 3,063 141 1Provisional