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Written question asked by George Howarth (Labour), in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 29 November 1996. It was answered by Ann Widdecombe (Conservative) on Friday, 29 November 1996 on behalf of the Home Office.

Home Office;Prison Service

Question
If he will list the total number of extra days which will be served in prison due to positive drugs tests which were taken during each month since March. - Text of letter from Richard Tilt of Prison Service Agency and includes table.
Answer

Mr. Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the total number of extra days which will be served in prison due to positive drugs tests which were taken during each month since March. [6274] Miss Widdecombe: Responsibility for this mater has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given. Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. George Howarth, dated 29 November 1996: The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question asking him to list the total number of extra days which will be served in prison due to positive drugs tests which were taken during each month since March. This information is given in the attached table. Unsuspended additional days awarded for all drug test offences March to October 1996 (provisional) _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Number of days Number of punishments March 14,455 995 April 11,770 817 May 16,175 1,115 June 13,553 962 July 15,621 1,031 August 13,249 879 September 13,409 901 October 14,122 918 March-October 112,354 7,618 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1. This table includes the offences of `unauthorised use of a controlled drug', `refusing to provide a drug test sample' and `falsifying a drug test sample'. 2. The `unauthorised use of a controlled drug' offence is not exclusively provable by testing, as discovery of the physical act of drug use might also lead to the offence being proven. We are unable to distinguish between those offences discovered by testing and by other means. 3. Offences are grouped by the date of adjudication rather than the date of testing/discovery.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
6274; 286 c452W;286 c450W
Session
1996-97
Subjects
Drugs Prisoners Prisons Misuse Sentencing Testing
Contains statistics
Yes