---

Anti-Drug Awareness

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention and entirely agree with him. It is indeed difficult for organisations to assess the range and variety of schemes in operation, which run from the individual who operates a scheme on a shoestring—a few thousand pounds a year—through to large national programmes that are funded with tens of millions of pounds. There is a need for assessment, and the same need has been identified in respect of projects that deal with knife crime. Again, a similar range of projects exists, but because there has been no real independent assessment of them, we are unable to judge which of them represent value for money. I agree entirely with the hon. Gentleman. I shall bring my remarks to a conclusion in the next minute or so. I have focused much of what I have said on drugs as opposed to alcohol, but many of the concerns about drugs education apply equally to alcohol, particularly alcohol education in schools or, more precisely, the lack of any real education on the subject. There are the same concerns about the law and its credibility. That supermarkets are allowed to sell alcohol as a loss leader—below cost price—must change, and I hope that the Government will ensure that that happens swiftly. There are solutions out there. I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman is familiar with the St. Neots project in Cambridgeshire, which involves everybody, including schools and off-licences, in a real partnership to tackle the alcohol problem. The partnership has resulted in a massive fall in problems associated with alcohol. Progress is being made on tackling drugs and alcohol abuse, but the Minister must respond to the challenge from the hon. Member for Nottingham, North about early intervention being neglected and rehabilitation being wrongly prioritised. We want the Minister to set out an action plan that will address the patchy drugs and alcohol education in our schools and prisons. If he can do so convincingly, he will undoubtedly receive our support.