Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cannabis factories have been discovered and abolished in the last three years.

The latest National Policing Commercial Cannabis Cultivation Problem Profile,
published in 2012, includes statistics on the identification of cannabis farms
across the UK. The main finding of the report is that there was a significant
rise in the identification of cannabis farms in 2011/12, from 6866 in 2009/10,
to 7660 cannabis farms in 2010/11 and 7865 cannabis farms in 2011/12. The
document can be found at:
http://www.acpo.police.uk/documents/crime/2012/20120430CBACCofCPP.pdf

The Government works closely with the police to support the policing of illegal
cannabis cultivation. The police response to tackle commercial cannabis
cultivation includes proactive operations to identify and close down these
farms and disrupt the organised crime groups behind them. The police also work
to improve their knowledge and understanding of the trade through activity-led
intelligence gathering.