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Drug Interventions Programme

Answer

The Drug Interventions Programme (DIP) provides a route out of crime and into treatment for drug misusing offenders, using their contact with the Criminal Justice System as an opportunity to engage them in treatment and support. The intensive elements of the programme, which include testing for class A drugs on charge for certain trigger offences, are operational in 97 basic command units (BCUs) (67 Drug Action Teams) within England and three drug/alcohol partnerships in Wales. Other key elements of DIP are delivered in all areas of England and are being rolled out in Wales.The intensive areas are listed in table 1. Since the programme began, over 31,000 drug misusing offenders have entered treatment through DIP. Latest figures show that over 2,000 DIP clients entered treatment in October 2005 and that the programme is on course to achieving the target of 1,000 offenders per week entering treatment by March 2008.From 1 December, the police in Greater Manchester, Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire police force areas, are able to test for class A drugs on arrest for certain trigger offences as an alternative to on charge for those who test positive and require them to attend an assessment with a drug worker. These new powers will be expanded further on 31 March 2006. Acquisitive crime—to which drug related crime makes a substantial contribution—is going down and fell by 12 per cent. in the year to April 2005.

Table 1: DIP intensive areas
Police force	DAT
Avon and Somerset	Bristol
Bedfordshire	Bedfordshire
Cambridgeshire	Peterborough
Cleveland	Hartlepool
	Middlesbrough
	Stockton
Greater Manchester Police	Bolton
	Bury
	Manchester
	Oldham
	Rochdale
	Salford
	Stockport
	Tameside
	Trafford
	Wigan
Gwent	Newport
Humberside	Hull
	North Lincolnshire
	North East Lincolnshire
Leicestershire	Leicester
Merseyside	Liverpool
Metropolitan Police	Brent
	Camden
	Croydon
	Ealing
	Enfield
	Greenwich
	Hackney
	Hammersmith and Fulham
	Haringey
	Hounslow
	Islington
	Kensington and Chelsea
	Lambeth
	Lewisham
	Newham
	Redbridge
	Southwark
	Tower Hamlets
	Waltham Forest
	Wandsworth
	Westminster
Northamptonshire	Northamptonshire
Northumbria	Gateshead
	Newcastle-upon-Tyne
	Sunderland
North Wales	Colwyn Bay
Nottinghamshire	Nottingham City
	Nottinghamshire
South Wales	Cardiff
	Swansea
South Yorkshire	Barnsley
	Doncaster
	Rotherham
	Sheffield
Thames Valley	Oxfordshire
	Reading
	Slough
West Midlands	Birmingham
	Coventry
	Dudley
	Sandwell
	Solihull
	Walsall
	Wolverhampton
West Yorkshire	Bradford
	Calderdale
	Kirklees
	Leeds
	Wakefield

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

440 c1359-60W;440 c1359-60W; 33240

Session

2005-06

Subjects

Drugs Misuse Rehabilitation Drug interventions programme

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk