Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to prevent such prisoners being released with a drug dependency being subject to immediate recall as a result of that drug dependency.

The decision to recall an offender from the community, whether that be from an indeterminate or a determinate licence, is based on a thorough assessment of risk in the round, and a relapse into substance misuse is not necessarily a justification for recalling the offender immediately. The Probation Service will take into account the individual circumstances of each case and will consider alternatives to recalling offenders from the community where appropriate, based on the level of risk the offender poses.

Those with drug dependency problems often have complex needs, particularly health needs that benefit best from cross-organisation co-operation. Health and justice partners are working closely to improve support and continuity of care when an offender leaves prison, and this is one of the three overarching objectives of the National Partnership Agreement between HM Prison and Probation Service, Ministry of Justice, Public Health England, NHS England and Department of Health and Social Care.

Protection of the public is our priority, and offenders will be recalled to prison if that is assessed as necessary to protect the public from further serious offending.