Prisoner costs.

David49

Inmates at Dartmoor and no doubt other prisons used to grow food but that ended many yrs ago the farms were so inefficient it was cheaper to buy it all in.

That's a very sad thing to read as no doubt the farms a) provided something constructive for prisoners to do during the day and b) may have contributed to the rehabilitation of some of the inmates.

BUT,

AI tells me that individual skills training replaced the farms, though the rehabilitation effects of neither operations were evaluated; so a comparison of the the effectiveness of the regimes was never made.

Its "criminal" to buy in often poor quality food for prisoners, school children and hospital patients all of whom benefit from good nutritious food. Such a short term view.

Inmates at Dartmoor and no doubt other prisons used to grow food but that ended many yrs ago the farms were so inefficient it was cheaper to buy it all in.

Every day a school day.

Hooray for AI. Prior to 2003 S pension was reduced after a 6 week stay in hospital. So Whingey's colleague was correct in 1978.

State pension is not stopped if in hospital for a long term stay. However PIP, Disability Allowance and Attendance Allowance are affected as well as other Benefits/Credits. According to AI.

Stopping Attendance Allowance etc seems valid as your personal requirements are being "Attended" to.

I don’t think it was ever true that the state pension was stopped during hospital stays. Anyway Age UK ( as ever) have a great fact sheet on this and the state pension is never stopped. After 28 days AA for example would stop.

Whingey that does seem harsh as I expect his pension went towards their joint expenses. So many sides to situations. I expect he didn't want to be in hospital. I suppose the situation is the same now as it was in 1978.

The costs of operating hospitals, and prisons, is a UK cost borne by all of us and therefore probably a pretty small amount per person per annum.

I’m pretty sure the state pension is not stopped now - don’t know about in 1978.

Yes I remember a woman I worked with back in 1978 doing her nut because her husband had his pension stopped after 6 weeks in hospital 😨

I don’t know about growing their own food - I don’t think that happens here much except perhaps in the open prisons. They get a lot of airline style junk food or so I hear. Mind you that is just hearsay and I haven’t studied the issue at university !

I have Googled my question about the payment of a state pension to a prisoner. Hopefully AI is correct. Yes the S pension is suspended from remand through imprisonment. It can then be reinstated on release, but no back payment made. If in remand and then released, as no conviction, then the S pension lost is refunded in full.
NI credits are not paid either and some prisoners make voluntary contributions. That all seems fair.

The cost of food is probably pretty small per prisoner especially if it is grown and produced as part of the prisoner rehabilitation programme.

That seems a harsh situation but maybe the compensation was a very large sum which it should be if false evidence was the implication not just that a further evidence turned up.

There is a current thread where the cost of hospital meals is being discussed. I think it is still the case that a state pension is forfeited if you are in hospital longer term. Is that correct?

I expect the cost of means testing would outweigh ths cost of prison food and you couldnt have a situation where a prisoner couldn't afford the cost. All other expenses would continue anyway if the prisoner owned or rented a property especially if there were dependents.

If we want criminals off the streets, which is the usual cry, then it is one of the many costs our taxes pay for.

Yes, that really is a disgrace, isn’t it? Talk about adding insult to injury!

Otherwise, I suppose that forceable charges for imprisonment could lead to corruption. I saw a documentary once about how in some Southern states of the US, black people were jailed on spurious charges as prisoners brought in money from their work on chain gangs and in prison factories. The list of companies who took the goods they made was eye opening.

Taking all of someone’s assets would also make rehabilitation difficult. The comparison with older people in care does make me think, though.

Very good question, I guess if they have dependents it’s not viable.
I seem to remember a story of a prisoner who was wrongly convicted and had the cost of his prison upkeep removed from his compensation.