asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the construction costs, the proposed staff complement, and the estimated annual running costs of the new maximum security prison at Low Newton.

The latest estimate of the construction costs, including staff quarters, for the new prison at Low Newton, named Frankland, is approximately £18 million. The staffing complement will be decided nearer the commissioning date, and an estimate of the annual running costs is not available. In 1977–78, the last financial year for which figures are available, the average annual cost of keeping an inmate in a similar type of establishment was £9,724.