Member

As the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas, said, there are currently more than 3,000 foreign national offenders with a sentence greater than three years. The impact of this amendment would mean that we would continue to hold all these prisoners in prison with—again, as acknowledged by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas—each year of detention costing £61,000 per average prison place. This would cost the taxpayer £183 million a year. With regard to the point made by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Keen of Elie, about what the public might think, they may have some views about that. The impact on our ability to manage prison capacity would be substantial.