HC Deb 26 October 1999 vol 336 cc826-7W
Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was in total and in respect of each prison and young offender institution in England and Wales(a) the number of prisoners currently taking part in a drug treatment programme, (b) the number of current prisoners who have completed a drug treatment programme and (c) the number of prisoners who are waiting to join a drug treatment programme. [94904]

Mr. Boateng

As an integral part of the £76 million programme to expand drug treatment for prisoners, the Prison Service will be introducing early next year a comprehensive monitoring system to evaluate the effectiveness of both the new services and those already operating. Until then, the information requested cannot be provided.

Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state in respect of each police force in England and Wales the number of offenders entering drug treatment programmes as a result of arrest referral schemes(a) during 1998–99 and (b) during 1999–2000 to date; and if he will make a statement. [94907]

Mr. Charles Clarke

The information requested is not currently available. Information from Drug Action Teams' plans for 1999–2000, submitted in December 1998, suggested that coverage of custody suites by arrest referral schemes was partial across police forces. We have set targets to double the number of schemes this year, with coverage of all custody suites to be achieved by 2002.

Tackling drug related crime is one of the Home Secretary's Policing Priorities for 1999–2000, and it is accompanied by a supporting key performance indicator concerned with the numbers entering treatment as a result of arrest referral. Police forces will report to my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary on their performance at the end of this financial year.

To assist the national roll out of arrest referral, my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced in July that up to £20 million will be available to police forces to accelerate the introduction of arrest referral schemes and to help ensure that treatment is available for those with drug problems identified by these schemes.