HC Deb 17 April 2000 vol 348 cc382-3W
Mr. Flynn

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of crimes committed by those under the influence of(a) alcohol and (b) heroin in each of the last three years. [118890]

Mr. Charles Clarke

Statistical data are collected on offences involving alcohol or illegal drugs only, not on offences which may have been committed under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs. A report published in 1998 on research carried out during 1996 and 1997 on behalf of the Home Office by the University of Cambridge sheds light on the links between alcohol, drugs and crime, Further data collected during 1998 and 1999 are currently being analysed as part of the NEW-ADAM programme for interviewing and drug testing arrestees. It is hoped to publish the next set of full results in the first half of this year.

The research undertaken so far on drug testing of arrestees, based in five locations, indicates that three-quarters (74 per cent.) of arrestees had recently taken at least one illegal drug and/or alcohol prior to arrest. The proportion of arrestees testing positive for alcohol average 25 per cent., while that for heroin/opiates was 18 per cent. These findings confirm the supposition that offenders tend to be heavy consumers of drugs.

While this study considerably advances knowledge of drugs-crime links, it will always be difficult to calculate a single percentage figure reflecting precisely what proportion of all crime is alcohol- or drug-related.

Figures on drug offences in 1998 were published in February 2000 in Home Office Statistical Bulletin Number 3/00 "Drug seizure and offender statistics, United Kingdom, 1998". Some alcohol-related statistics are also published. Figures on breath tests were published in Statistical Bulletin 16/99 "Breath Test Statistics, England and Wales, 1998", motoring offences in Statistical Bulletin 12/99 "Motoring Offences, England and Wales, 1997"; other offences involving alcohol are included in "Criminal Statistics England and Wales 1998" published in March 2000. Copies of all these publications are in the Library.

Mr. Flynn

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent in the past three years in prisons to deal with misuse of(a) illegal drugs and (b) alcohol. [118887]

Mr. Boateng

Information is readily available only about spending on elements of the drug strategy which are co-ordinated centrally. The figures are:

  • 1997–98: £9 million
  • 1998–99: £9 million and, following the Comprehensive Spending Review,
  • 1999–2000: £31.5 million.

In addition, establishments will have funded locally driven drugs and alcohol initiatives, details of which are not collected centrally.