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Home Office;Prison Service

Answer

Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the procedures involved in respect of the random mandatory drug testing policy for women prisoners.[20618] Miss Widdecombe: [holding answer 18 March 1996]: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given. Letter from Brian Landers to Mr. Alex Carlile, dated 19 March 1996: The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about the procedures involved in respect of the random mandatory drug testing policy for women prisoners. In most respects the procedures for the random testing of women prisoners are the same as those for men. Ten per cent. of each prison's population is randomly selected by computer at the beginning of each month. Prisoners are given no advance warning that they are to be tested and are escorted immediately to the sample collection site. At the sample collection site the prisoners are informed of the reason and authority for the test. All prisoners are searched before being asked to give a sample. Each prisoner is then required to wash her hands to remove any potential contaminants. Prisons have been advised to assess the risk of false samples being substituted and to take appropriate security measures. Male members of staff are not permitted to collect or to observe the collection of samples from women prisoners. If a prisoner is unable to provide a sample straight away, she may be confined at the collection site for up to five hours. She is offered a third of a pint of water each hour. If it is suspected that the prisoner is having genuine difficulty in providing a sample, the prisoner is asked if she wishes to see a health care worker. Prisoners who refuse to provide a sample or who fail to provide a sample without a medical reason are charged with disobeying a lawful order. Samples are equally divided between two bottles. Screening and confirmation tests are carried out on the urine from one bottle, the second may be analysed at an independent laboratory on the prisoner's instructions. Both sample bottles are sealed with bar-coded seals and then sealed into a chain of custody bag for despatch to the laboratory. All of this takes place in the prisoner's presence.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

20618; 274 c151-2W

Session

1995-96

Subjects

Women Drugs Prisoners Prisons Misuse Testing