To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what the average cost was per prisoner per night of housing a prisoner in a court cell in each of the last six months for which figures are available. (136760)

To date, one invoice to the value of £120,000 (excluding VAT) has been paid to cover the contingency of having places available in court cells between 17 January and 6 February.

This covers the availability of 380 places in court cells (19 places for 20 nights), giving a cost per place of around £300.

12 prisoner nights were spent in court cells during this period.