To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost has been to public funds of detaining indefinitely suspected terrorists under the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001. [113599]

The cost to the Prison Service of holding the prisoners detained under the Anti-terrorism Crime and Security (ATCS) Act 2001, from the first detentions in December 2001 up to the end of April 2003, is estimated at £424,000. This figure is calculated from the average cost per prisoner over the period at the holding establishments and the number of ATCS detainee months over that period. Indirect costs, in the Prison Service and other agencies associated with the decisions to detain, have not been assessed.