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Welfare Reform Bill

The whole thrust of this is to try to help people move closer to the labour market, particularly those who have been excluded from it for a long time through their dependency. The measure has three components: drug dependency; propensity to misuse drugs; and the impact of that. Whether someone is susceptible to treatment and whether their dependency impacts on their ability to obtain work is the third leg that would need to be satisfied before these provisions would bite. I doubt whether they would extend to the whole range of students to whom the noble Baroness refers, but there are three components. I revert to the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, on engagement with the medical profession on drug testing. We are discussing with the Department of Health and the Home Office how to establish and conduct the pilots. We would engage with the medical profession through that mechanism. Off the top of my head, I cannot tell the Committee how detailed that engagement has been to date, but I understand the thrust of the noble Baroness’s point.