§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the expansion of services to refer drug users to treatment via the criminal justice system will start. [90331]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthThe Government's Updated Drug Strategy, launched on 3 December 2002, described the introduction, from 2003–04, of a comprehensive new programme of criminal justice interventions aimed at getting drug misusers out of crime into effective treatment. This programme includes, amongst other initiatives, the enhancement of existing arrest referral schemes, doubling the availability of Drug Treatment and Testing Orders, building on the current Drug Testing projects and extending the approach more widely and piloting a presumption against bail for those who refuse to access treatment. The programme will be backed up by improvements in treatment capacity and local delivery.
Some elements of the new programme, such as enhanced arrest referral, will apply across England and Wales from year one; others will be introduced on a phased basis, with the initial focus on those areas with the highest levels of acquisitive crime.