HC Deb 28 February 1997 vol 291 cc434-5W
Mr. George Howarth

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list each organisation short-listed for the contract to perform mandatory drug testing, indicating the interval each proposes between a mandatory drug test being carried out and the prison authorities being informed of the result, and the proposed cost per test; [17492]

(2) when is the next round of tendering for drug testing in prisons scheduled to take place. [17494]

Miss Widdecombe

Responsibility for these matters have been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. George Howarth, dated 28 February 1997: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about the organisations short-listed for the contract to perform mandatory drug testing, their proposed costs and turnaround times, and when the next round of tendering for the drug testing contract will take place. The organisations which were short-listed in 1995 for the mandatory drug testing contract were: The Laboratory of the Government Chemist The Forensic Science Service The tendering specification required that screening results should be communicated to individual prisons within two days of receipt of samples by the contractor. Both those short-listed confirmed their ability to meet such a timetable. Prices submitted by bidders must be treated as commercially restricted. The contract was awarded to the Laboratory of the Government Chemist in December 1995. This has a review date of 1 April 1997, with provision for extension for up to a further two years. No decision has yet been taken about when the next tendering exercise will be held.

Mr. Howarth

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the average interval between a mandatory drug test being carried out and the prison authorities being informed of the test result; [17491]

(2) if he will list each organisation which carried out drug testing for the Prison Service before the contract to perform mandatory drug testing was awarded; what was (a) the average length of time between a drug test being carried out and the prison authorities being informed of the result for each organisation and (b) the cost per test. [17493]

Miss Widdecombe

Responsibility 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 Richard Tilt to Mr. George Howarth, dated 28 February 1997: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about which organisations carried out drug testing for the Prison Service prior to the award of the present contract, the interval between a mandatory drug test being carried out and the prison authorities being informed of the result, and the cost per test. Prior to the award of a contract to the Laboratory of the Government Chemist in December 1995, all laboratory urine analysis for the mandatory drug testing programme was carried out by two companies: Medscreen and Scientifics. The average length of time between a prisoner's sample being taken at the establishment and the screening test taking place at the laboratory is estimated as four days for Scientifics, four days for Medscreen and seven days for LGC. It is important to note that establishments may store samples in a refrigerator for up to seven days awaiting a sufficient number to justify calling out a courier. The Prison Service requirement is that the interval between receipt of the sample at the laboratory and notifying the outcome of the screening test to the prison should be no more than two working days; in the majority of cases that is met. It would be inappropriate to disclose the costs of testing; to do so would be likely to prejudice a future tendering competition.