Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Drug Rehabilitation Requirements have been granted by courts in England in each of the last two years for which figures are available.

The table below shows the number of Drug Rehabilitation Requirements (DRRs) commenced under community orders and suspended sentence orders in England and Wales in 2016 and 2017.

There is no available published data with a separation of figures for the two countries.

We are working with the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and Public Health England on a protocol to support the greater use of community sentences with treatment requirements in courts, including DRRs.

The Community Sentence Treatment Requirement (CSTR) protocol sets out what is expected from all relevant agencies to ensure improved access to treatment for offenders who need it. It focuses on reducing reoffending by addressing the health needs of offenders that may be contributing to their offending behaviour.

The protocol is operating across five courts within England (as health is devolved in Wales). These sites are Milton Keynes, Northampton, Birmingham, Sefton and Plymouth. The NHS Long Term Plan, published in January 2019 includes a commitment by NHS England to build on these pilots. Decisions on how the use of the protocol could be extended will be made in due course, based on the evaluation of the test bed sites.