§ 35. Mr. PlaskittTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the availability of places for drug addicts at residential detoxification centres. [64781]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthOver 50 per cent. of Drug Action Teams have residential detoxification services located within their area. Figures on the numbers of places available for residential detoxification, however, are not collected centrally.
There are an estimated 130 residential treatment services in England and Wales (which may or may not include detoxification facilities), which have an estimated 2,169 available beds. This would suggest a possible 8,700 drug and alcohol users could be treated each year.
Figures from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) show that the average waiting times for residential treatment have significantly reduced. The average waiting times for priority cases has been reduced from 5.08 weeks in 2000–01 to 4.45 weeks in 2001–02. Non-priority cases waited an average of 9.34 weeks in 2000–01 improving to 6.44 weeks in 2001–02.