§ Mr. GreenTo ask the President of the Council what is the budget under the direct control of the United Kingdom Anti-Drugs Co-ordinator. [40262]
§ Mrs. Ann TaylorThe UK Anti-Drugs Co-ordinator, Keith Hellawell, is a special adviser to the Government, and as such has no budget to spend. As part of the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review, he has overseen a review of existing drug resources. This has informed the Government's new anti-drugs strategy, 'Tackling Drugs to Build a Better Britain', launched last month. This estimated that the Government currently spend about £1.4 billion a year on anti-drugs activity within departmental programmes. An announcement on funding from 1999–2000 will be made later in the year, following the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review.