§ Ms RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 6 July,Official Report, column 203, what assessment has he made of the effectiveness of drug addiction programmes in prisons; and what plans there are to increase the number of drug programmes available to prisoners.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from A. J. Butler to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 20 July 1994:
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question on drug addiction programmes in prisons.The Prison Service are commissioning an external research team to evaluate a drug treatment programme that has been running in one establishment for over two years.An external researcher has also been commissioned to provide a literature review of different types of drug treatment programme used in the Prison Service, other prison systems and/or the community.The results of these two pieces of research will help to inform the Prison Service Strategic Plan on which treatment programmes are best suited to prisons and how many programmes will be required.