HL Deb 28 February 2001 vol 622 cc148-9WA
Baroness Cohen of Pimlico

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What changes they intend to make to the random mandatory drug testing programme for immigration detainees. [HL996]

Lord Bassam of Brighton

Immigration detainees rarely test positive for drugs. As a result, from 1 April 2001 detainees held at Her Majesty's Prison Haslar and within discrete units at Her Majesty's Prisons Lindholme and Rochester will no longer be subject to the random mandatory drug testing programme.

Other security measures to prevent the smuggling and misuse of drugs will remain unchanged. These new arrangements will not apply to detainees dispersed more widely across the prison estate and who therefore have regular contact with prisoners. The policy will be reviewed at three and six-months intervals to ensure that the low level of drug abuse in these establishments continues.