Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the (1) direct, and (2) indirect, costs of imprisonment; what alternatives, if any, they are considering; and what steps are they taking, if any, to promote these alternatives.

The direct cost of holding offenders in Custody for 2019-20 in England and Wales was £2.4bn. The indirect costs for the year were £1.1bn. The overall cost was therefore calculated at £3.5bn. These figures were taken from the latest published Prison Unit Cost statistics (Cost per prison place and Cost per prisoner).

The Government is clear that delivering public protection is not just about better use of custody. In many cases – particularly for low-level offending – effective community supervision keeps the public safer by intervening early to deflect offenders away from future offending and so prevent future victims.

The Government’s Sentencing White Paper, published in September 2020, set out an agenda of reform for punishing and rehabilitating low level offenders. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which is currently before Parliament, is delivering on reforms to make community sentences more robust and effective, so that they offer an appropriate level of punishment and address the underlying drivers of offending where appropriate. This will be achieved by piloting a problem-solving court approach for certain community and suspended sentence orders, closer supervision of certain offenders, and the option for tougher and more flexible use of electronically monitored curfews to better reflect the punishment intended, better support rehabilitation, and better protect victims.