Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by David Burrowes (Conservative). It was answered on Monday, 19 March 2007 on behalf of the Home Office.

Drug-related Crime

Question: Given that the Minister’s own Department’s report in 2005 on determining the effectiveness of drug treatment interventions concluded that"““there is strong evidence that the most effective interventions to reduce drug-related crime are therapeutic communities””," why are there so few residential rehabilitation centres, particularly for young people, and why are only 18 prisons offering intensive therapeutic programmes?

Answer: We have made considerable resources available to the drugs sector to ensure that services are available, whatever the needs of the individuals concerned. We have introduced the drug interventions programme to ensure that people who commit a trigger offence in the DIP areas can be tested on arrest; those who commit such offences in other areas can be tested on charge. Others might come into the system through the health sector. GPs will then allocate them to services as appropriate. I cannot see the hon. Gentleman objecting to the significant increases in budgets; this year, we have invested £1.5 billion in drug-related services in this country. That is a huge increase, compared with the situation a few years ago.

Secondary information