Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of Operation Safeguard in 2023.

Operation Safeguard is a contingency measure that provides additional headroom for use if prisoners cannot be accepted from the courts or police custody. It is a temporary measure to provide a short-term solution. When Operation Safeguard is active, tactical and operational governance reviews take place at regular intervals, as agreed with police partners.

There are no additional costs to the taxpayer and any spend under Operation Safeguard comes from within existing departmental budgets. Every aspect of Operation Safeguard – including compensation for cells – is based on agreements between HMPPS, the police and the Home Office. The use of Operation Safeguard cells are kept under weekly review.