§ 32. Mr. KidneyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the introduction of drug testing and treatment orders. [21136]
§ Beverley HughesBetween 1 October 2000, when the Drug Treatment and Testing Order was rolled out to courts in England and Wales, and 31 October 2001, 3,956 orders were made, of which 1,089 were revoked. Implementation of the order is being closely monitored by the National Probation Service and consideration is being given to how research can assist us to understand the longer-term effectiveness of this new court disposal. It is, however, still too early for any independently evaluated information on the effectiveness of the order since roll-out.
The order had previously been piloted for 18 months in three areas. An independent evaluation of the pilot schemes found that on average there were significant reductions in the spending on illegal drugs and number of crimes committed by offenders subject to Drug Treatment and Testing Orders.