asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average weekly cost of detaining a male person in prison (a) on remand awaiting trial and (b) after sentence.

In England and Wales the estimated weekly cost of maintaining an adult male prisoner in the financial year 1973–74 was £41. I regret that it is not possible to isolate the separate cost of maintaining unsentenced or sentenced prisoners since some prisons hold both groups.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average weekly cost of detaining a female person in prison (a) on remand awaiting trial and (b) after sentence.

In England and Wales the average weekly cost of maintaining an inmate in a prison or borstal for women or girls in the financial year 1973–74 was £53. I regret that it is not possible to isolate the separate cost of maintaining unsentenced women or girls since they are held in institutions also holding other groups of inmates.