HC Deb 22 December 1997 vol 303 cc539-40W
15. Mr. Amess

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the current prison population were convicted of a drugs-related offence. [20173]

Ms Quin

Provisional information for 31 October 1997 shows that there were 368 convicted unsentenced and 7,377 sentenced prisoners held in prisons in England and Wales for drug offences. This represents 14.3 per cent. of the convicted prison population.

29. Mr. Woolas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the proportion of acquisitive crime which is linked to the use of illegal drugs. [20187]

Mr. George Howarth

We hope to publish early in the new year important research which indicates that there is indeed a very strong relationship between the misuse of drugs and acquisitive crime.

Mrs. Betty Williams

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to tackle the link between drugs and crime. [20155]

Mr George Howarth

A new treatment and testing order, included as one of the measures in the Crime and Disorder Bill, will give courts the power to require drug misusing offenders to undergo treatment. The new order will be rigorously enforced and include the use of drug testing to enable the courts to monitor the progress of offenders at review hearings.

In addition, a Home Office Drugs Prevention Initiative study is testing the impact of drug treatment interventions in the criminal justice system—from arrest through to sentence and beyond—to refer people with drug problems to drug treatment programmes.

Further measures are likely to be recommended by the new United Kingdom Anti-Drugs Co-ordinator as part of his comprehensive review of Government action against drugs, while the Home Office's research programme will continue to shed light on the nature of the links between drugs and crime and to inform action against both.