Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking through the criminal justice system to tackle alcohol and drug-related crime in (a) Stoke-on-Trent and (b) Staffordshire.

We know that drug and alcohol related crime blights communities and drives reoffending, so it is essential the Criminal Justice System tackles substance misuse and supports offenders into treatment.

This is why MoJ have introduced the Alcohol Abstinence and Monitoring Requirement (AAMR) to tackle alcohol related offending. The AAMR imposes an alcohol ban for up to 120 days, with compliance electronically monitored using an alcohol tag. Published statistics show a compliance rate with the ban of 97.2% for days monitored, since introduction, Electronic Monitoring Statistics Published June 2023 - Gov.uk. We have also introduced alcohol monitoring for offenders leaving custody and during the license period where alcohol misuse is a factor for reoffending; license conditions may be imposed which ban or limit alcohol consumption.

Drug Treatment Requirements can also be imposed as part of a community sentence, which aims to address the underlying causes of drug-driven offending behaviours and improve health outcomes.

All prisoners will also have access to high-quality treatment so they can turn their back on addiction. We are increasing the number of Incentivised Substance Free Living units to up to 100 by March 2025, where prisoners commit to remaining free of illicit drugs with regular drug testing and incentives - there are currently 60 open across the estate, including several in the West Midlands region.

The ongoing recruitment of Drug Strategy Leads based in category C and women's prisons, also allows for the coordination of the strategy’s whole system approach to tackling drugs.

We are recruiting Health and Justice Partnership Coordinators across England and Wales, to improve offender access to substance misuse and health services. These roles work regionally across the West Midlands, covering both Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire.

We know that for prison leavers, continuity of care after release is important. We are rolling out a project that will make probation aware of all person leavers who were in treatment in prison and have been referred to community treatment- enabling them to support appointment attendance. Mobilisation in Stoke on Trent and Staffordshire is underway and due to complete by March 2024.