Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to page 32 of his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, what his planned timetable is for when random mandatory drug testing will return to the levels required to estimate national drug use in prisons.

All random mandatory drug testing (rMDT) in prisons were paused in March 2020 following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Low levels of testing resumed from September 2020 in line with the National Framework for managing COVID-19. rMDT levels have not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels due to operational and staffing pressures in prisons. We will keep performance under close review.

Prisons continue to have a zero-tolerance culture, and any prisoner suspected of taking illicit substances can still be subjected to a mandatory drug test. As part of the ambitious cross-Government Drug Strategy, we are rolling out a range of interventions to support prisoners off drugs and into recovery, such as doubling the number of Incentivised Substance-Free Living wings, and supporting prisoners to engage with community treatment pre-release.

We are also committed to tackling the supply of drugs into prison and our £100m Security Investment Programme delivered 75 additional X-ray body scanners, resulting in full coverage across the closed male estate. 84 X-ray baggage scanners have also been installed at 45 prisons and 4 learning centres, building on the rollout of our body scanners, drug trace detection machines and metal detection archways.