Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to improve the provision of addiction treatment in prisons.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
Over the last 18 months, NHS England has been taking active steps to improve drug and alcohol services across the entire adult prison estate to address Dame Carol Black’s recommendations in her internal review and increase the provision of treatment and recovery services.
In 2025/26, we secured an additional £7 million, recurrently, to increase the provision of drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services. This funding is ringfenced to increase availability of long-acting buprenorphine, peer support, targeted psychosocial interventions delivered in Incentivised Substance Free Living wings and deliver targeted psychosocial interventions to address synthetic drug use.
Since funding was released in August 2025, every region has reported an increased offer into these key priorities, and some regions have reported a positive impact into the number of patients being under the influence.
Additionally, we have been working extensively with stakeholders across the health and justice sector, including providers, commissioners, patients, prison leaders and policy leads, to revise the national substance misuse service specification to improve consistency in design, delivery and oversight. A key change includes renaming the custodial services to Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Recovery services, aligning to community and HM Prison and Probation Service terminology and reducing stigma attached to addiction. The revised spec is progressing towards the final stages ahead of publication later this year.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to prevent those who attain refugee status from facing homelessness upon discharge from Home Office accommodation.
Answered by Alex Norris - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Home Office is committed to supporting newly recognised refugees to transition from asylum accommodation and mitigate the risk of homelessness. We are working with local authorities, NGOs and other stakeholders to ensure any necessary assistance is provided for those individuals who are granted refugee status.
We have placed Asylum Move on Liaison Officers (AMLOs) in 59 local authorities across the UK, working alongside the Migrant Help NGO to support individuals who will be leaving asylum accommodation, and ensure a successful transition. AMLOs support newly granted refugees face to face in contingency accommodation and dispersal hubs to support their move on from asylum accommodation, which includes accessing Universal Credit, accessing eVisas, opening bank accounts, LA housing referrals and support to access the private rental sector and voluntary organisations.
Asylum decision data is shared with local authorities as early as possible to enable effective planning and lessen the impact on homelessness and rough sleeping pressures. Following the Home Office notifying accommodation providers that a decision has been served, providers notify local authorities within two working days so that they can begin homelessness assessments and provide timely support.