Prisoners: Foreigners

Mr. Steen
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 16 April 2007, Official Report, columns 483-84W, on prisoners: foreigners, what the cost to the public purse was of imprisoning (a) non-British EU national prisoners and (b) non-EU foreign national prisoners in (i) 2005, (ii) 2006 and (iii) 2007.

Mr. Sutcliffe
I have been asked to reply.

Cost data are not collated by nationality. Foreign national prisoners are spread across the estate. They are not managed as a separate group. The average cost of a prison place at Prison Service establishments in England and Wales was £32,888 and for the private contractual prison estate was £32,418 in 2005-06; these figures would apply equally to prisoners whether British or foreign national.