Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many recorded seizures of new psychoactive substances have been detected in prisons by trained dogs since the introduction of such dogs into prisons.

We take a zero-tolerance approach to drugs in our prisons. Anyone found with contraband will be subject to disciplinary action and police investigation. We are taking unprecedented action to stop the supply and use of drugs, including an innovative new drug testing programme and have over 300 dogs to detect psychoactive substances.

We have also invested £3 million in enhanced intelligence, to improve our targeted intelligence and search capabilities. We are working closely with government partners to address issues with drugs at every stage of the supply chain, including those attempting to smuggle drugs into prisons.

Figures drawn from the HMPPS Incident Reporting System show that between November 2014, when the training for psychoactive substances was introduced, and September 2017 there were 821 incidents where psychoactive substances were found in prisons following an indication from a prison drug dog.