Written question asked by Robert Buckland (Conservative) on Friday, 1 July 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 5 July 2011. It was answered by James Brokenshire (Conservative) on Wednesday, 13 July 2011 on behalf of the Home Office.

Drug Interventions Programme

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the effect of the Drug Interventions Programme on re-offending rates.

Answer: I have been asked to reply.The Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), has responsibility for the Drug Interventions Programme (DIP).The most recently published research from 2007 showed that the level of proven offending of a selected cohort (of 7,727 individuals) identified through DIP declined by 26% when comparing the six months prior to contact with the six months following DIP contact.More recent information looks at individuals entering the DIP following a positive drug test in police custody. Those testing positive for the Specified Class A drugs (heroin and or cocaine/crack) between January and March 2009 committed on average 1.9 offences during the 12 months following their drug test. This level of offending was 11% lower than for the equivalent group in 2008 (who committed 2.14 offences on average). The majority of those entering DIP do so following a positive drug test result.

Secondary information