Written question asked by Ross Cranston (Labour) on Monday, 6 December 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 10 January 2005. It was answered by Caroline Flint (Labour) on Monday, 10 January 2005 on behalf of the Home Office.

Home Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what change in the number of people accessing drug treatment as a result of Criminal Justice Implementation panel intervention he expects in (a) 2004-05 and (b) 2005 to 2007- Including figures.

Answer: Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what change in the number of people accessing drug treatment as a result of Criminal Justice Implementation panel intervention he expects in (a) 2004-05 and (b) 2005 to 2007. [203545] Caroline Flint: The Drug Interventions Programme (formerly CJIP) is having a positive impact on drug treatment for all drug users and is acting as a catalyst to improve availability, accessibility and quality of treatment. In (a) 2004-05: Between April and October 2004 over 7,000 people entered drug treatment through the programme, with 190per cent more people entering treatment in October than in April. In (b) 2005 to 2007: We are on track to achieve our ambition of getting 1,000 offenders a week into treatment by 2008 and are currently running ahead of the interim target to get 1,250 offenders per month into treatment by March 2005. The numbers accessing treatment via the Drug Interventions Programme do not show the full picture. NTA figures show that 154,000 drug users were in treatment in England in 2003-04.

Secondary information