§ Mr. HobanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what provision is in place to support drug addicts on their release from prison; what information is passed to drug treatment agencies when a drug addict is released into their home community; and if drug addicts are tracked on release from prison to facilitate treatment. [87835]
§ Hilary Benn[holding answer 17 December 2002]: All prisons have a Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice and Throughcare service (CARAT), which seeks to put in place care plans for prisoners, which should identify need for throughcare on release. Prisoners serving sentences of 12 months or less can receive support from CARATs. Prior to release, CARATs will warn of the dangers associated with loss of tolerance in prison and will try to establish a link with a community drug service. When this is not achieved, CARATs will provide a degree of support, where practical, for up to eight weeks after release.
Prisoners serving sentences in excess of 12 months are routinely subject to supervision by the National Probation Service. CARAT workers will advise a supervising probation officer of any continuing, post-release drug treatment needs and will request the establishment of a link with a community drug agency. A prisoner's progress will be monitored until the expiry of the supervision period.
As outlined in the Government's updated Drug Strategy 2002, published on 3 December 2002, the Home Office, alongside the National Treatment Agency, the National Probation Directorate and the Prison Service is working to improve the availability and quality of community support for ex-prisoners with drug problems and to ensure that an effective infrastructure is in place to bridge the gap between prison and community.
§ Mr. HobanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment has been made of the number of drug addicts in(a) Hampshire and (b) England in each year since 1997. [87841]
§ Mr. Bob Ainsworth[holding answer 17 December 2002]: Estimating numbers of drug addicts is very difficult and figures are not available for Hampshire or England for the years requested. The latest estimates for the number of Class A problem drug users in England and Wales range from 281,125 to 506,025. The first of these figures is closest to previously reported estimates. These figures come from a Home Office study entitled: "The Economic and Social Costs of Class A drug use in England and Wales, 2000". Copies of this publication will be placed in the Library.
842WLocal figures are only available for those people with drug problems who have recently started drugs treatment. The most recent figures cover from 1 October 2000 to 31 March 2001. These show that for Portsmouth and South East Hampshire, Southampton and South West Hampshire health authorities a total of 501 people had entered treatment. Data are not available for the years requested.