Feeling guilty over the cost to the taxpayer

11th December
Doesn't take much to make a prisoner feel like he has an exciting task to do. Today, it's writing Christmas cards with the prospect that I might reach the end of my list.

Normally, I go to work every week day. I work in the prison library. It keeps me among the sanity of books and that is good. But workmen are making changes to the library so there is no work for me.

But it's worse for everyone else: There's no library for people to take out books for the time of year when we are locked away the most.

I shake my head and smile like a schoolteacher looking at a foolish answer on a test paper.

I mean, you have to ask: Who makes the decisions? Did someone ask, did anyone ask, 'When shall we close the library for repairs? Shall we do it when the library is in least demand, or the most?'

And someone has chosen the most. The busiest time of year. Some minutes later in my cell, I'm still shaking my head in unsurprised disbelief. ('Unsurprised' because I 've seen it all before.)

There are in prison in England and Wales 83,714 human beings, two per cent, we are told, more than a year earlier. (This is the latest figure - for 31 October.)

Then look at the figures for what our leaders euphemistically call the Projected prison population.

If you aren't familiar with it, let me explain. There's a 'high' and a 'medium' and a 'low'. What are we to make of it? Well, the highest number that could be flung into prison that year is the 'high', what might happen with luck is the 'medium', and what there's not a chance of happening is 'low'.

Out of the politicians' hands

Am I cynical and alone in the conclusion? But isn't it done this way to suggest that it's all out of the hands of the politicians? 'Blimey, don't blame us, geez. We're just guessing. It's the judges and them others what fills the jails.'

And look at the numbers and multiply it by around £50,000 which it costs to house a prisoner. Yes, £50,000 seems to be the latest guess. Well, you're thinking: Must be the high cost of brilliant administration.

And yet our expert and highly paid (because they deserve the money) administrators have decided that our library should be closed for maintenance, which could be done at any time, at the very busiest time of the year - Christmas. Well, to be fair, they know more about these things that the common man.

Year High Medium Low
2009 85,100 84,300 83,300
2010 88,100 86,400 84,400
2011 90,500 87,900 85,100
2012 92,100 88,700 85,000
2013 93,000 88,600 84,100
2014 94,200 89,000 83,600

I'll try to work out the cost on the back of a cigarette packet. 83,714 times 50, and that gets us, 4185700. Now divide that by 12, and we have the cost to the taxpayer for each human thrown into prison in this highly sophisticated, modern society.

That's 348808. Oh, we have to tack two zeros onto the stern. 3488080000. I think that's right. Then put in the commas so we can read it. 3,488,080,000.

Wish I hadn't done that for it reads to me like almost £3 and a half million a month to keep such a huge population in prison.

Don't tot this up, whatever you do

You'd have to add on the price of paying the officers, the judges, the prosecution, Legal Aid and so much more. But don't do it, not if you like to sleep peacefully.

I've heard it said that about 18% of people in prison are there through wrong decisions by juries. So take 18% of almost £4 million a month and you can see that the cost of injustice in England is far, far greater than just the tragedy of lost lifetimes.

Oh, before I close. Good news. I've just won £10 for an anti-bullying survey I did. Sorry, we'll have to add that to the grand total. (Give me a moment to think about whether I'll do the decent thing and hand it back.) Oh, well, back to the Christmas cards.
- Roger Gordon

Links
Prison population
Projected prison figures