Written question asked by Lord Grayling (Conservative) on Thursday, 4 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 8 March 2010. It was answered by Alan Johnson (Labour) on Wednesday, 7 April 2010 on behalf of the Home Office.

Drugs: Crime

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Ion Track drug detection devices are possessed by each police force in England and Wales.

Answer: The Home Office allocates funding to the police authority and it is for the chief constables and police authorities to determine their spending on different types of policing activity. It is therefore not possible to provide the data in the format requested.There are two main manufacturers of devices using the ion mobility spectrometry technology to detect either drugs or explosive traces. One of these was known as Ion Track prior to 2003.According to the Department's records, in excess of 150 devices using the ion mobility spectrometry technology have been supplied to police authorities in England and Wales since 2003. Some are used for drugs detection and others for explosive detection.

Secondary information