§ 5. Mr. Stephen Hepburn (Jarrow) (Lab)If he will make a statement on arrests for drug-related offences in the north-east. [142089]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Caroline Flint)There were 9,300 arrests for drug offences, including possession and supply, in the north-east. In addition, 47,800 arrests were made for property crime offences, such as robbery, burglary, theft and handling. Home Office research has found that drug-using arrestees commit much higher volumes of property crime than those who do not take drugs.
§ Mr. HepburnWe were told that one reason why we needed to invade Afghanistan was to stop the flow of heroin to this country, but there is as much heroin on the streets of the north-east as there has ever been, and 95 per cent. of it comes from Afghanistan. What are we going to do to tackle the drug-related crime that seems to be getting out of hand in this country?
§ Caroline FlintDrug-related crime is a serious matter, and I should like to pay tribute to police forces and others in the north-east, whose recent significant results have led to some major arrests and court convictions. However, my hon. Friend is right to raise the issue of the source, and that is why we have a 10-year strategy to tackle opium coming from Afghanistan. Indeed, the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Mr. Rammell), will hold a conference on the issue on 2 February in Kabul. We will also be working with all agencies to try to deal with the source of supply. However, I should point out that it is far better for people to deal with a state that wants to work together than with one that does not.
§ Mr. Nick Hawkins (Surrey Heath) (Con)Does not the Minister recognise that one real problem—in the north-east and throughout the rest of the countryߞis a lack of the intensive rehabilitation places that get people off the conveyor belt to crime by ensuring that they are taken away from drugs? Given that not only many parts of the media but some of her colleagues, such as the hon. Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann), have waged campaigns on that issue, will the Government finally recognise that they are wrong and provide the number of intensive rehabilitation places for hard drug users that we Conservatives have called for?
§ Caroline FlintThe number of places available is increasing. The hon. Gentleman is right to point to treatment, and intensive rehabilitation places are important, but so is care in the community. I am pleased to say that, in addition to Middlesbrough, four further areas in the north-east will benefit from our criminal justice interventions programme. That programme will see people through from the point of arrest and charge to whatever may happen next, whether it be custodial sentence or community sentence, to ensure that they get treatment that lasts.