HC Deb 02 February 1998 vol 305 c527W
Mr. Flynn

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of the total number of prisoners in the United Kingdom are known to be drug addicts. [26540]

Mr. George Howarth

Between 1 April 1996 and 31 March 1997, Prison Service establishments in England and Wales reported 13,191 notifiable drug addicts under the Misuse of Drugs (Notifications of and Supply to Addicts) Regulations 1973 and 8,839 non-notifiable drug addicts. The figures are aggregates for the year and cannot meaningfully be expressed as a percentage of the daily prison population.