§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what action is being taken to seek to reduce the incidence of drug abuse at each HM prison, HM remand centre and HM detention centre in(a) South Yorkshire, (b) North Yorkshire, (c) West Yorkshire and (d) Humberside;
(2) how often cells and other parts of the building are searched for drugs by staff and sniffer dogs at each HM prison and HM remand centre and HM detention centre in (a) South Yorkshire, (b) North Yorkshire, (c) West Yorkshire and (d) Humberside.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for these matters 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 Derek Lewis to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 4 May 1994: 515W
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about the action being taken to reduce the incidence of drug abuse at prisons in Yorkshire and Humberside and the searching of cells and other parts of prison buildings.All prisons in Yorkshire and Humberside search cells and other areas of the prison on a daily, but random basis. Searches using dogs trained in drug detection are carried out at the more secure prisons in Yorkshire and Humberside. For example, Full Sutton uses dogs every six weeks, Leeds every three months and Hull uses them to search non living accommodation weekly. All prisons in the area will make special searches with or without dogs when security intelligence indicates need.Security measures including the use of X-ray scanners for parcels, increased searching of visitors and prisoners and using security information to target other searches within the establishment, are aimed at preventing drugs being brought into prison.All prisoners are warned of the dangers of drug abuse and are offered drug counselling about the dangers of drug abuse. There are also courses to help prisoners tackle their drug problem. Some establishments run self help or drug awareness groups.In addition to these general measures, the establishments have tailored their programmes for tackling drug abuse to meet the differing needs of their prisoner population.For example, in South Yorkshire, Moorland prison and young offenders institution screens all prisoners on admission offering those with a serious drug problem immediate treatment in the Health Care Centre. In North Yorkshire, Northallerton remand centre targets a Personal Social Education course at those in need using outside agencies to assist in counselling. Full Sutton prison has introduced a confidential telephone line.Prisons in West Yorkshire have similar approaches. Rudgate has a trained drugs worker to help identify those with drug problems and refer them for specialist help. New Hall and Wakefield prisons offer drug rehabilitation courses through probation and local agencies.In Humberside, Hull prison is training two dogs specifically for drug searching and female Prison Auxiliaries have been recruited for searching female visitors.