Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has piloted a harm reduction approach to drug use in prisons.

The Ministry of Justice works closely with NHS England and the Department for Health and Social Care to ensure that all prisoners who need it have access to high-quality substance misuse treatment.

This includes:

• increasing the number of Incentivised Substance-Free Living Units from 25 in summer 2022 to 80 now. Incentivised Substance-Free Living Units are prison wings providing a dedicated, supportive environment for prisoners who want to live drug-free in prison. They provide additional support to prisoners struggling with addiction to engage with treatment, using regular drug testing alongside incentives to ensure prisoners stay drug free;
• recruiting up to 50 Drug Strategy Leads in key prisons which will ensure prisons are recovery focused, bringing together health and security-focused activity. This builds on the £100 million already invested from our Security Investment Programme which aims to reduce crime in prisons and the conveyance of illicit substances;
• rolling out nasal naloxone to prison staff, which is the lifesaving medication to reverse an opiate overdose.