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RISING COST OF HOLDING PRISONERS IN POLICE CELLS

01 January 1991

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RISING COST OF HOLDING PRISONERS IN POLICE CELLS
bacdoc November=1991


The annual cost of holding prisoners in police cells is now
equivalent to the cost of running five prison:; the size of
Dartmoor, according to figures released today (2 September) by
the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of
Offenders (NACRO).

The figures are likely to intensify the mounting concern about
the sharply rising use of police cells for remanded and sentenced
prisoners. Last month (on 22 August) the Association of Chief
Police Officers announced that, because of police forces'
increasing difficulty in accommodating prisoners, it was
reopening the national Mutual Aid Coordinating Centre based at
New Scotland Yard.

A briefing paper published today (2 September) by NACRO brings
together figures previously contained in a wide range of sources
including published and unpublished Home Office statistics,
Parliamentary answers and reports by the Inspectorate of
Constabulary. It shows that the total cost of holding prisoners
in police cells in England and Wales in the financial year
1990-91 was ¼53.5 million - equivalent to the annual cost of
running five prisons the size of Dartmoor. The cost of holding
prisoners in police cells between 1 April and 23 July this year
was ¼17.5 million.

The average cost of holding a prisoner in a police cell is ¼220
a night or ¼1,540 per year (more than four times the cost of
holding someone in prison). `This is more than the cost of a
single room at a top London hotel: current nightly rates
inclusive of VAT are ¼175 at the Savoy, ¼190 at the Ritz, ¼190
at Claridge's, ¼203 at the Hilton and ¼211 at the Dorchester.
In the first four months of this year the number of prisoners
in police cells fluctuated between 500 and 700. However, since
the beginning of May the number has tripled: it rose from 516 on
3 May to 1,557 on 23 August. (The overall custodial population,
in prisons and police cells combined, rose from 45,323 to 46,858
over the same period).

"Prisoners in Police Cells" is available free from: NACRO, 169,
Clapham Road, London SW9 0PU.

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