§ Mr. LeighTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the total amount(a) spent and (b) allocated by his Department on tackling problems relating to drugs in respect of (i) developing prevention publicity, education and community action and (ii) improving treatment and rehabilitation, for (1) 1994, (2) 1995, (3) 1996 and (4) 1997. [4797]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisInformation on total Government and individual Departments' expenditure on tackling drug misuse is not recorded on an annual basis. The most recently available estimates were published in the White Paper "Tackling Drugs Together" in May 1995. They show that at least £526 million of expenditure in 1993–94 could be directly attributable to drug programmes and activities across the UK.
The Government will be appointing a "drug czar" to co-ordinate action against drugs, working to the President of the Council as Chair of the Cabinet's co-ordinating committee on drug misuse. One of his/her first tasks will be to review urgently the existing drugs strategy, and to put forward proposals for tackling the problem with renewed vigour. This review will include current Government expenditure.
§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what research has been commissioned by his Department to identify the level of drug abuse at each level of the education system. [5089]
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§ Ms MorrisA good deal of research is available on levels of drug abuse which, while not necessarily commissioned by my Department, is taken into account when planning initiatives to support drug education in schools.
My Department did provide funding for an evaluation of The Advisory Council for Alcohol and Drug Education's—TACADE's—"Skills for Life" PSE programme for secondary schools, which had a particular emphasis on drug education. This included research into students' experience of drugs and the level of reported drug taking by students in a small sample of schools, as well as an in-depth study of how those schools were implementing the programme. A report will be published shortly. In addition, my Department has recently produced a booklet outlining the results of the independent evaluation reports of a number of LEA innovative drug education projects supported by our Grants for Education Support and Training—GEST—programme in 1995–96. These projects researched and trailled a range of different approaches to drug education work. A copy is in the Library.