§ 8. Mrs. Ann Winterton (Congleton)If he will list the initiatives taken by the anti-drugs co-ordinator over the past 12 months in relation to reducing the level of drug misuse in prisons in England and Wales. [83647]
§ The Minister for the Cabinet Office (Dr. Jack Cunningham)The prison drugs initiative, launched in May 1998, operates within the framework of the Government's anti-drugs strategy. The comprehensive spending review for anti-drugs activities included £76 million between 1999 and 2002 for the implementation of the prison drugs strategy in England and Wales. The Prison Service is taking forward the implementation of the strategy.
§ Mrs. WintertonThe Minister will be aware that, last year, 88,304 mandatory drug tests were conducted 1051 on prisoners and that 20,152—almost a quarter—tested positive. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that although some prisoners may have been tested more than once, these figures illustrate the severity of the drug problem in prisons? Will he suggest to the Home Secretary that if we are to assess the true position more accurately, mandatory drugs tests should be carried out on the entire prison population in selected prisons when least expected, perhaps, for example, during or after a weekend? Without more accurate statistics, the effectiveness of the measures undertaken cannot be gauged. Will these matters be covered in the drugs co-ordinator's first annual report, and when may we expect publication of it?
§ Dr. CunninghamI hope to make a statement on the first annual report on drugs shortly. The hon. Lady is certainly right to say that the baseline information throughout this aspect of policy is exceedingly fragile. Some of it, as she implied, is not particularly reliable. That is why we are using some of the money in the drugs programme to create databases in which we can have confidence. With the £76 million that the Prison Service has been allocated, as I mentioned earlier, it is working closely with the Home Office, the probation service and the police to try to improve the situation in prisons. The hon. Lady is right to say that we need to do much better than we have done in the past.
§ Mr. Robin Corbett (Birmingham, Erdington)Although every step should be taken to deter staff and visitors to prisons from bringing in drugs, does my right hon. Friend agree that the problem starts earlier, at ports of entry? How does he react to complaints that those manning controls at our ports have neither enough staff nor the right equipment to do that job as effectively as they would wish?
§ Dr. CunninghamMy hon. Friend is right to say that Customs and Excise is an important part of our defences against the importation of illegal drugs. It is a matter of record that between 1989 and 1996, 500 front-line members of Customs and Excise were cut from the service. When we came to office, we took action to prevent a further reduction of 300 Customs and Excise officers. In the comprehensive spending review, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer provided an increase in support for Customs and Excise, precisely because it has such an important role to play in these matters.
§ Mr. Humfrey Malins (Woking)The Select Committee on Home Affairs is conducting an inquiry into drugs in prisons. We recognise that it is an extremely serious problem. A number of prisons are doing some good work. Will the right hon. Gentleman comment on three possible remedies—first, sniffer dogs in all our prisons; secondly, the appropriate equipment for screening all staff and visitors to prisons; and thirdly, suitable punishments for all visitors who are found to be bringing drugs into our prisons?
§ Dr. CunninghamPrison governors are taking new initiatives and introducing new measures to control a serious problem, as the hon. Gentleman points out. I will study the recommendations of the Home Affairs 1052 Committee with interest, but principally it will be for my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary to respond. I will consider with him the specific issues that the hon. Gentleman raised.