Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the annual cost of each prisoner held in prison.

An average cost per prisoner, cost per prison place and overall prison unit cost for each private and public sector prison in England and Wales are routinely published by His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). This information is produced on an annual basis and is published after the end of each financial year on the gov.uk website.

The overall average annual cost for keeping an individual in a prison is £51,108, which is taken from the latest published Prison Unit Cost statistics for 2022-23.

The Ministry of Justice expects the 2023-24 Prison Unit Cost statistics to be published in December 2024, once the 2023-24 HMPPS Annual Report & Accounts are published.