Asked by: Lord Patel of Bradford (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the funding previously assigned to the Drug Interventions Programme to tackle drug-related offending by helping drug-using offenders to access treatment will be retained; and whether that funding will continue to be focused on the specific needs of that group of people.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Home Office funding previously assigned to the Drug Interventions Programme is now part of money allocated to Police and Crime Commissioners. This has been the case since 2012/ 2013 in London, and from 2013/ 2014 for the rest of England and Wales.
The Government continues to encourage use of drug testing on arrest to support police forces in monitoring new patterns around drugs and crime and provide an early opportunity to refer offenders into treatment.