Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 8 January 2024 to Question 7583 on Prisons: Drugs, how many random mandatory drug tests carried out between 2018 and 2023 were positive.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Between April 2018 and March 2023, there were 25,323 positive rMDT tests for both traditional drugs and psychoactive substances. Data for April to December 2023 will be published as part of the 2023-24 Annual Digest.
No new Official Statistics on rMDT positivity have been published since the year to March 2020, because since the start of the COVID pandemic testing levels and the number of prisons with sufficient testing have been too low to provide robust data.
The range of drugs tested in the rMDT panel is subject to change in response to new emerging drug types and new patterns of drug use. This is necessary to ensure our testing approach is targeting the right substances. These limitations mean no robust rate of positive tests can be calculated from the above data and this number of positive tests should not be compared to the number of tests.
Care is taken when processing and analysing returns, but the detail is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. Although shown to the last case, the figures may not be accurate to that level.
This does not include tests that were spoilt or lost in transit on the way to the laboratory.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prisons have a drug recovery wing.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
As part of the ambitious cross-Government Drug Strategy, we are rolling out a wide range of interventions to support prisoners off drugs and into recovery. This includes testing a new approach to help prisoners with an opiate dependency achieve abstinence, with seven abstinence-focused Drug Recovery Wings in operation across the estate. Alongside this, we are increasing the number of Incentivised Substance-Free Living (ISFL) units, where prisoners commit to remaining free of illicit drugs with regular drug testing and incentives. We now have 68 ISFLs in operation (55% of prisons), and aim to reach up to 100 ISFLs by March 2025.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many drug recovery programmes were delivered in prisons in (a) 2010, (b) 2018 and (c) 2023.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Drug treatment in prisons is commissioned by NHS England, and data from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System is held by the Department of Health and Social Care. Published data on drug treatment in secure settings, including numbers in treatment, is available dating back to 2015. This can be found at:
As part of the ambitious cross-Government Drug Strategy, the Ministry of Justice is rolling out a range of interventions to support prisoners off drugs and into recovery. This includes increasing the number of Incentivised Substance-Free Living wings from 25 in summer 2022 to 68 now, and testing a new approach to help prisoners with an opiate dependency achieve abstinence, with the opening of 7 abstinence-based Drug Recovery Wings. We are also recruiting dedicated staff in prisons to focus on tackling drugs, and supporting prisoners to engage with community treatment pre-release.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the pilot scheme to test wastewater for illegal drug use in prisons launched by his Department in 2021.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are committed to identifying and tackling drug misuse in prisons, including through a range of drug testing approaches. In 2021, we undertook a small-scale proof of concept study at 13 prisons to understand wastewaters utility in detecting the presence or absence of illicit substances. Following successful detection in the pilot, we are continuing to test wastewater-based surveillance and its potential in assessing the prevalence of illicit substances in prisons. The evidence base around wastewater-based surveillance is continually developing and so we are working with leading academics and embedding quality assurance into our methods.
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. Our £100m Security Investment Programme completed in March 2022 and delivered 75 additional X-ray body scanners, resulting in full coverage across the closed male estate. We have also installed 84 X-ray baggage scanners 49 sites, building on the rollout of our body scanners, drug trace detection machines and metal detection archways.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she has taken with Cabinet colleagues to tackle increases in the use of nitazenes (a) nationally and (b) in the South East England.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care continues to monitor the use of nitazenes and other synthetic opioids and has taken action to tackle the threat they pose. In July 2023, a National Patient Safety Alert was issued to the National Health Service and others, warning of potent synthetic opioids implicated in heroin overdoses and deaths and actions that local areas should take. The Department of Health and Social Care is a core member of the cross-government Task Force to develop mitigations to the synthetic opioids threat. Membership of the task force also includes the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice, National Crime Agency, HM Prisons and Probation Service, Border Force and the police. As part of those mitigations, the Department of Health and Social Care is accelerating its work to expand access to naloxone and developing a drugs surveillance and early warning system.
The Government is investing £780 million nationally between 2022/23 and 2024/25 through drug strategy funding to improve drug treatment and recovery systems which will focus on increasing the numbers in treatment for opiate use.
In the South East specifically, an additional £43.7 million has been allocated via the Supplementary Substance Misuse Treatment and Recovery (SSMTR) Grant and £3.3 million for the Inpatient Detoxification Grant to improve drug and alcohol treatment and recovery systems, totalling £47m. The following tables show indicative funding allocations for these grants for each area in the South East:
Supplementary Substance Misuse Treatment and Recovery (SSMTR) Grant | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | Total |
Bracknell Forest | £144,526 | £147,375 | £206,039 | £497,940 |
Brighton and Hove | £1,142,490 | £1,872,323 | £3,613,294 | £6,628,107 |
Buckinghamshire | £339,114 | £345,800 | £584,638 | £1,269,552 |
East Sussex | £391,085 | £1,741,085 | £2,028,218 | £4,160,388 |
Hampshire | £802,715 | £818,541 | £1,541,380 | £3,162,636 |
Isle of Wight | £275,155 | £280,580 | £417,554 | £973,290 |
Kent | £1,101,719 | £2,202,986 | £3,615,400 | £6,920,105 |
Medway | £389,709 | £418,172 | £686,277 | £1,494,159 |
Oxfordshire | £622,452 | £634,724 | £1,136,228 | £2,393,403 |
Portsmouth | £503,741 | £825,535 | £1,593,156 | £2,922,432 |
Reading | £413,221 | £469,761 | £770,942 | £1,653,924 |
Slough | £266,434 | £271,687 | £277,256 | £815,378 |
Southampton | £654,506 | £1,072,611 | £2,069,974 | £3,797,091 |
Surrey | £721,703 | £735,933 | £1,500,381 | £2,958,017 |
West Berkshire | £184,055 | £187,684 | £220,527 | £592,265 |
West Sussex | £665,692 | £678,817 | £1,306,719 | £2,651,228 |
Windsor and Maidenhead | £164,752 | £168,000 | £240,617 | £573,368 |
Wokingham | £83,007 | £84,644 | £144,184 | £311,835 |
Total | £8,866,076 | £12,956,258 | £21,952,784 | £43,775,118 |
Inpatient Detoxification Grant | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | Total |
Bracknell Forest | £13,809 | £13,809 | £13,809 | £41,427 |
Brighton and Hove | £96,016 | £96,016 | £96,016 | £288,048 |
Buckinghamshire | £44,258 | £44,258 | £44,258 | £132,774 |
East Sussex | £72,422 | £72,422 | £72,422 | £217,266 |
Hampshire | £121,199 | £121,199 | £121,199 | £363,597 |
Isle of Wight | £22,750 | £22,750 | £22,750 | £68,250 |
Kent | £167,295 | £167,295 | £167,295 | £501,885 |
Medway | £37,006 | £37,006 | £37,006 | £111,018 |
Oxfordshire | £96,612 | £96,612 | £96,612 | £289,836 |
Portsmouth | £48,132 | £48,132 | £48,132 | £144,396 |
Reading | £41,625 | £41,625 | £41,625 | £124,875 |
Slough | £23,991 | £23,991 | £23,991 | £71,973 |
Southampton | £58,364 | £58,364 | £58,364 | £175,092 |
Surrey | £106,099 | £106,099 | £106,099 | £318,297 |
West Berkshire | £16,392 | £16,392 | £16,392 | £49,176 |
West Sussex | £96,214 | £96,214 | £96,214 | £288,642 |
Windsor and Maidenhead | £17,335 | £17,335 | £17,335 | £52,005 |
Wokingham | £9,686 | £9,686 | £9,686 | £29,058 |
Total | £1,089,205 | £1,089,205 | £1,089,205 | £3,287,837 |
Further details of funding allocations for individual local authority areas are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/extra-funding-for-drug-and-alcohol-treatment-2024-to-2025
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he has taken with Cabinet colleagues to tackle the (a) importation, (b) manufacture, (c) sale and (d) distribution of nitazenes.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
In December 2021, the Government launched its ten-year drug strategy, From Harm to Hope, to cut crime and save lives. As part of this, £300 million has been allocated to fund activity to break drugs supply chains from end-to-end, this includes restricting upstream flow, securing the UK border, and ensuring we remain agile in the face of changing threats.
The NCA, the Police and Border Force are delivering a robust multi-agency response to detections of nitazenes, ensuring lines of enquiry are prioritised and vigorously pursued to stem any supply of illicit synthetic opioids to and within the UK. This approach sends a clear message to serious and organised criminals that supply of these dangerous substances will not be tolerated in the UK.
We have also established a cross-Government Taskforce to lead and co-ordinate the UK’s strategic response to the risk from synthetic opioids. Members include the Home Office, the Department for Health and Social Care, Ministry of Justice, National Crime Agency, HM Prisons and Probation Service, Border Force and the police.
The Government recently laid a draft affirmative Order in November 2023 to control 20 substances under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, including 14 nitazenes as Class A drugs. This will likely come into force in March. The maximum sentence for possession or supply of a Class A drug is up to life imprisonment, a fine, or both.
On 15 December 2023, the ACMD recommended an updated generic definition for nitazene variants. The Government will respond to this recommendation shortly.
Additionally, through the Criminal Justice Bill, we are introducing new powers for the police to take action against criminals who intend to use pill presses and encapsulators to manufacture illicit drugs like nitazenes and other synthetic opioids.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many drug-related deaths have occurred in prisons each year since 2019.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
There were 17 drug-related deaths in custody in 2019 identified when matching HMPPS deaths data to the ONS deaths registration database, as can be found in this publication: Drug-related deaths and suicide in prison custody in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk).
The data used in this publication was for deaths from 2008 to 2019, and the information is not held in the form in which it has been requested from 2020 onwards. To identify drug-related deaths from 2020 onwards is not possible within the cost limit. This is due to the methodology needed to be consistent with the publication above. Linking each HMPPS death to the ONS deaths registration database to identify those which were drug-related is a complex task that would exceed the cost limit. As mentioned in the Guide to Safety in Custody Statistics – “Although HMPPS monitors drug related deaths, it does not use this category in published statistics because they are difficult to measure accurately. In addition, the category can blur the boundary with self-inflicted deaths.”
Therefore, we are unable to provide the number of drug-related deaths from 2020 onwards.
Please note, deaths in custody for 2023 are currently only published up to September. Deaths in custody for the rest of 2023 will be published on 25 January 2024 within Safety in Custody.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what is the target number of random mandatory drug tests to be carried out in prisons each month.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Random Mandatory Drug Testing is carried out across the prison estate to meet the annual target. The attached table details the prisons in which random mandatory drug tests were carried out in 2023.
Data for April to December 2023 is not included because it is subject to future publication as part of the 2023-24 Annual Digest.
The target number of rMDT each month is a random sample of 5% of prisoners in prisons with 400 or more prisoners and 10% of prisoners in prisons with fewer than 400 prisoners. These testing levels are set annually, based on the average monthly population in the previous year.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in which prisons random mandatory drug tests were carried out in 2023.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Random Mandatory Drug Testing is carried out across the prison estate to meet the annual target. The attached table details the prisons in which random mandatory drug tests were carried out in 2023.
Data for April to December 2023 is not included because it is subject to future publication as part of the 2023-24 Annual Digest.
The target number of rMDT each month is a random sample of 5% of prisoners in prisons with 400 or more prisoners and 10% of prisoners in prisons with fewer than 400 prisoners. These testing levels are set annually, based on the average monthly population in the previous year.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the volume of illegal drugs found in prisons between (a) 2014 and 2018 and (b) 2019 and 2023.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The number of incidents where drugs are found in prisons in England and Wales is published in the HMPPS Annual Digest through the incidents data tool.
a) Between April 2013 and March 2018, there were 44,206 drug find incidents in prisons in England and Wales.
b) Between April 2018 and March 2023, there were 92,619 drug find incidents in prisons in England and Wales.
Data for April to December 2023 is not included because it is subject to future publication as part of the 2023-24 Annual Digest.
It is important to consider with incidents of drug finds in prisons, that an increase in numbers may be as a result of more items being found, rather than more items being present in prisons. Our £100 million Security Investment Programme, aimed at reducing crime in prisons, including reducing the conveyance of illicit items such as drugs, was completed in March 2022. This investment delivered 75 additional X-ray body scanners resulting in full coverage across the closed adult male estate. As of October 2023, we have recorded 46,925 positive indications, helping to tackle the supply of drugs and other contraband into prisons.
Our £100m Security Investment Programme, aimed at reducing crime in prisons, including reducing the conveyance of illicit items such as drugs, was completed in March 2022. This investment delivered 75 additional X-ray body scanners resulting in full coverage across the closed adult male estate. As of October 2023, we have recorded 46,925 positive indications, helping to tackle the supply of drugs and other contraband into prisons.