Offenders: Drugs

(asked on 13th March 2024) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to help ensure the rehabilitation of offenders with a history of substance abuse.


Answered by
Edward Argar Portrait
Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This question was answered on 21st March 2024

We know that substance misuse drives reoffending, and are committed to supporting offenders to overcome addictions and turn their lives around. Our landmark Drugs Strategy sets out the ambitious cross-government 10-year plan to address illegal drug use, underpinned by record additional investment – as part of which, the Ministry of Justice is supporting offenders at every stage of the criminal justice system into recovery.

In prison we have dramatically increased the number of incentivised substance-free living (ISFL) units, where prisoners commit to living drug-free with incentives and regular testing. Over 70 prisons now have an ISFL, up from 25 in summer 2022. To ensure prison leavers maintain their progress in treatment, we have recruited Health and Justice Partnership Coordinators nationwide to improve links between prison and community treatment services.

We are also supporting the rehabilitation of offenders with substance misuse needs in the community. We have increased probation’s drug testing capacity and we are piloting Intensive Supervision Courts (ISCs), to divert offenders with substance misuse and complex needs away from short custodial sentences into enhanced community-based sentences. ISCs aim to tackle the root cause of offending behaviour through robust supervision and interventions, frequent and random drug testing, and regular reviews with a single judge.

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