Prisons: Overcrowding

(asked on 16th November 2023) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much funding was allocated per police force for the use of police cells under Operation Safeguard in (a) October and (b) November 2023.


Answered by
Edward Argar Portrait
Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This question was answered on 22nd 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 during October 2023, the breakdown by police force is shown below (a):

Operation Safeguard costs to 14 November 2023 are estimated by police force shown below (b). Cells were de-activated on this date.

a)

Force

TOTAL

Avon and Somerset Constabulary

£ 107,128

Bedfordshire Police

£ 108,094

Cambridgeshire Constabulary

£ 152,883

Cheshire Constabulary

£ 267,820

City Of London Police

£ 55,061

Cleveland Police

£ 93,267

Cumbria Constabulary

£ 61,391

Derbyshire Constabulary

£ 190,023

Devon & Cornwall Police

£ -

Dorset Police

£ -

Durham Constabulary

£ -

Dyfed-Powys Police

£ 142,837

Essex Police

£ 173,560

Gloucestershire Constabulary

£ 122,782

Greater Manchester Police

£ 257,882

Gwent Police

£ -

Hampshire Constabulary

£ -

Hertfordshire Constabulary

£ 90,674

Humberside Police

£ 122,782

Kent Police

£ 630,050

Lancashire Constabulary

£ 137,832

Leicestershire Police

£ -

Lincolnshire Police

£ -

Merseyside Police

£ -

Metropolitan Police Service

£ 712,197

Norfolk Constabulary

£ 204,637

North Wales Police

£ 113,019

North Yorkshire Police

£ 122,782

Northamptonshire Police

£ 204,637

Northumbria Police

£ 387,621

Nottinghamshire Police

£ 286,491

South Wales Police

£ 153,143

South Yorkshire Police

£ 150,469

Staffordshire Police

£ 204,637

Suffolk Constabulary

£ -

Surrey Police

£ 251,717

Sussex Police

£ 207,578

Thames Valley Police

£ 214,366

Warwickshire Police

£ 142,837

West Mercia Police

£ 245,564

West Midlands Police

£ 1,378,693

West Yorkshire Police

£ 215,589

Wiltshire Police

£ -

Central Silver Team

£ 35,516

TOTAL

£ 7,945,556

b)

Force

November

Avon and Somerset Constabulary

£ 3,621

Bedfordshire Police

£ 43,748

Cambridgeshire Constabulary

£ 69,005

Cheshire Constabulary

£ 129,384

City Of London Police

£ 27,530

Cleveland Police

£ 43,128

Cumbria Constabulary

£ 25,877

Derbyshire Constabulary

£ 52,393

Devon & Cornwall Police

£ -

Dorset Police

£ -

Durham Constabulary

£ -

Dyfed-Powys Police

£ 46,571

Essex Police

£ 59,672

Gloucestershire Constabulary

£ 51,754

Greater Manchester Police

£ 129,384

Gwent Police

£ -

Hampshire Constabulary

£ -

Hertfordshire Constabulary

£ 44,209

Humberside Police

£ 51,754

Kent Police

£ 251,971

Lancashire Constabulary

£ 60,379

Leicestershire Police

£ -

Lincolnshire Police

£ -

Merseyside Police

£ -

Metropolitan Police Service

£ 275,303

Norfolk Constabulary

£ 72,235

North Wales Police

£ 43,128

North Yorkshire Police

£ 51,754

Northamptonshire Police

£ 58,214

Northumbria Police

£ 158,491

Nottinghamshire Police

£ 120,759

South Wales Police

£ 69,005

South Yorkshire Police

£ 69,005

Staffordshire Police

£ 72,235

Suffolk Constabulary

£ -

Surrey Police

£ 94,603

Sussex Police

£ 70,429

Thames Valley Police

£ 94,968

Warwickshire Police

£ 46,571

West Mercia Police

£ 81,074

West Midlands Police

£ 480,409

West Yorkshire Police

£ 58,214

Wiltshire Police

£ -

Central Silver Team

£ -

TOTAL

£ 3,006,776

Reticulating Splines