§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what has been the total spending on anti-drugs strategies during each of the last 10 years; and what proportion in each of those years was spent on(a) drug enforcement measures and (b) rehabilitation. [125997]
§ Mr. Ian McCartneyThe first UK drugs strategy "Tackling Drugs Together" was launched in May 1995 and allocated £8.8 million over three years to Drug Action Teams, £5.9 million on schools drug education for 1995–96, and £1 million in the same year for services for young people at an early stage of drug misuse. For the present strategy, "Tackling Drugs To Build A Better Britain", the 1998 Comprehensive Spending Review settlement provided an additional £217 million of resources for three years, of which £70.5 million (32.4 per cent.) was allocated for new treatment services in communities, and £60 million (27.6 per cent.) for treatment services in prisons. No extra resources were allocated for enforcement. The overall aim of the Government's present anti-drugs strategy is to shift the emphasis away from dealing with the consequences of the drugs problem towards positive investment in preventing and targeting it, and Government drug-related expenditure will reflect this over the length of the strategy.