Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many random drug tests in prisons in England and Wales returned positive results in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.

In the year ending March 2019 there were 9,193 positive random drug tests in prisons in England and Wales (16.9% of all tests taken). This was published in the HMPPS Annual Digest: April 2018 to March 2019 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). In the year ending March 2020 there were 7,275 positive random drug tests in England and Wales (14% of all tests taken). This was published in the HMPPS Annual Digest: April 2019 to March 2020 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Data for the year to March 2021 is not comparable to previous years due to a significant reduction in testing volumes caused by the impact of COVID-19 in prisons. As a result, random drug testing data was not reported in the HMPPS Annual Digest: April 2020 to March 2021 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). in the usual format. However, it is noted in the Digest that in the 12 months to March 2021, there were 4,738 random mandatory drug tests (rMDT) carried out nationally in total, of which 606 (12.8%) gave a positive result.