Prisons: Overcrowding

(asked on 27th November 2023) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 22 November 2023 to Question 2339 on Prisons: Overcrowding, how much funding was allocated per police force for the use of police cells under Operation Safeguard between January and November 2023.


Answered by
Edward Argar Portrait
Edward Argar
Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
This question was answered on 30th November 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. Spend is recorded on a cost-recovery basis.

Operation Safeguard costs between February 2023 and November 2023 are provided below. Costs are estimated for November.

Force

TOTAL

Avon and Somerset Constabulary

£ 368,239

Bedfordshire Police

£ 545,788

Cambridgeshire Constabulary

£ 528,753

Cheshire Constabulary

£ 1,802,647

City Of London Police

£ 225,341

Cleveland Police

£ 876,582

Cumbria Constabulary

£ 517,537

Derbyshire Constabulary

£ 1,263,353

Devon & Cornwall Police

£ 3,558

Dorset Police

£ -

Durham Constabulary

£ -

Dyfed-Powys Police

£ 519,098

Essex Police

£ 635,564

Gloucestershire Constabulary

£ 1,461,935

Greater Manchester Police

£ 1,688,173

Gwent Police

£ 268,352

Hampshire Constabulary

£ 634,727

Hertfordshire Constabulary

£ 492,629

Humberside Police

£ 912,291

Kent Police

£ 2,200,016

Lancashire Constabulary

£ 1,086,436

Leicestershire Police

£ 524,547

Lincolnshire Police

£ 302,002

Merseyside Police

£ 577,703

Metropolitan Police Service

£ 2,742,188

Norfolk Constabulary

£ 987,331

North Wales Police

£ 930,918

North Yorkshire Police

£ 1,054,348

Northamptonshire Police

£ 1,167,120

Northumbria Police

£ 2,554,921

Nottinghamshire Police

£ 2,350,567

South Wales Police

£ 1,135,853

South Yorkshire Police

£ 1,107,699

Staffordshire Police

£ 1,650,935

Suffolk Constabulary

£ -

Surrey Police

£ 894,621

Sussex Police

£ 827,290

Thames Valley Police

£ 1,610,893

Warwickshire Police

£ 1,017,467

West Mercia Police

£ 2,023,646

West Midlands Police

£ 8,453,181

West Yorkshire Police

£ 1,763,737

Wiltshire Police

£ -

Central Silver Team

£ 205,101

TOTAL

£ 49,913,088

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