§ Mrs Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has for making appropriate treatment more widely available for the purposes of clause 16 of the Criminal Justice Bill. [127673]
§ Caroline FlintWe are already significantly expanding drug treatment provision for those referred from both the Criminal Justice system (CJS) and other sources, as part of the Updated Drug Strategy.
Additional resources are being made available to fund this expansion. The National Pooled Treatment Budget for 2002–03 was £191 million. In 2003–04 it will increase by 23.5 per cent to £236 million and will continue to rise to £299 million by 2005–06.
368WSubject to Royal Assent of the Criminal Justice Bill, the provisions under Clause 19 ("Drug users: restriction on bail", previously Clause 16) will be piloted in a limited number of areas initially, and will only be brought into force in a given area where appropriate assessment and treatment are available.