HC Deb 28 February 2000 vol 345 cc149-50W
Mr. Alexander

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what percentage of the young people in the constituency of Paisley, South who have taken part in the New Deal Scheme and who are(a) white and (b) of non-white origin have moved on from the New Deal into permanent jobs. [110497]

Ms Jowell

In the period to end the of November 1999 the information is as follows for the Paisley, South constituency:

On crime, the Home Office study on arrest and probation referral schemes and prison-based work in South London, Brighton and Derby reported large falls in opiate use after contact with criminal justice drug workers. Respondents were also spending £300 less per week on drugs with corresponding falls in drug related crime. The Prison Service has also seen a dramatic reduction in the rate of positive mandatory drug tests, from 24.4 per cent. in 1996–97 to 18.3 per cent. in 1998–99. Furthermore, recent Home Office drug seizure and offender statistics show that in 1998 we seized drugs with a total street value of £710 million and dealt with 127,900 drug offenders—an increase of 13 per cent. on the previous year.

Evidence such as this indicates that the Government's approach is the right one and will deliver the kind of results we all want to see in tackling drug abuse in our society.