§ 18. Mr. RathboneTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he next intends to meet local education authority drug misuse co-ordinators; and what he will discuss with them.
§ Mr. Alan HowarthI will be meeting the national liaison group of the drug education co-ordinators on Monday 12 March. The agenda for the meeting has yet to be determined.
§ 81. Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he plans to take to consider the problem of drug abuse in schools.
§ Mr. Alan HowarthThe Department is providing grant on expenditure of up to £4.1 million by local education authorities in 1989–90 to encourage and support the development of programmes of drugs education in schools, colleges and the youth service. In 1990–91 grant will be paid on expenditure of up to £7 million on programmes of preventive health education, including education about drug misuse. The national curriculum science order requires that pupils in both primary and secondary schools should study the risks of drug misuse and how it affects body processes. In addition, the National Curriculum Council plans to issue guidance in the spring to all schools in England on the place and content of health education, including education about drug misuse, in the curriculum as a whole.