Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total cost to the public purse has been of the incarceration of prisoners who are not UK nationals since 2015.

We do not disaggregate prison run costs by nationality and the cost to hold individuals depends on category of prisons. Our unit costs for holding prisoners are published on GOV.UK alongside the HM Prison and Probation Service Annual Reports and Accounts. Data on the number of Foreign National Offenders in custody is published in Offender Management Statistics quarterly on GOV.UK.

The removal of Foreign National Offenders is a Government priority and my department have recently announced measures to further increase removals of Foreign National Offenders including the extension of the Early Removal Scheme window to 18 months; working closely with Home Office to facilitate timely removals and working with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to conclude bilateral Prison Transfer Agreements with priority countries.

The Home Office removed 16,676 Foreign National Offenders since January 2019 to September 2023. Published figures show that Foreign National Offender returns have increased in the latest 12-month period (ending September 2023) by 19% when compared to the previous 12-month period.