Our landmark Drugs Strategy published in December 2021, is an ambitious cross government 10-year plan to address illegal drug use in both prison and the community.

We are investing a further £120m to keep drugs out of prisons and get offenders off drugs and into recovery, including in HMP Hull. This includes expanding the use of Incentivised Substance-Free Living units where prisoners commit to remain drug-free and undergo regular drug tests, rolling out up to 18 new Drug Recovery Wings which will support those recovering from opiate misuse to become abstinent, and recruiting Health and Justice Coordinators across all probation regions to ensure continuity of care for prison leavers.

Our £100m Security Investment Programme, aimed at reducing crime in prisons, was completed in March 2022. This investment included delivery of 75 additional X-ray body scanners, resulting in full coverage across the closed adult male estate. There are now 97 scanners across 95 prisons, including HMP Hull.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has provided the following response:

There is a legal requirement that providers must support ‘the autonomy, independence and involvement in the community of the service user.’ Engagement with local communities is an important topic that is assessed regardless of the kind of adult social care service the CQC inspects. The criteria the CQC uses when rating services places a strong emphasis on appropriate community engagement.

When a person uses a service regulated by the CQC it is required, together with the person, to assess their strengths and needs, and to agree how the person will be supported and receive care. The CQC checks a sample of plans and experiences. Where a person’s needs and wishes included engagement with local volunteering opportunities we would expect providers to take steps to support this. However, this would only be relevant where a service provides housing related support or wider social care as well as the ‘personal care’ that is regulated by the CQC. Not all services provide wider social care or support.

Regulated providers are required to assess people’s strengths and needs, and to ensure that these needs are met, or that appropriate agreed referrals to outside agencies are made, for example, to specialist drug and alcohol teams. Where a service cannot meet a person’s needs they are expected to liaise with health and social services professionals to discuss this. The CQC checks this during inspections.

Drugs education is a statutory part of the new national curriculum for science. Pupils should be taught about the effects of recreational drugs, including substance misuse (including alcohol), on behaviour, health and life processes. Teaching in this area can be further strengthened through PSHE education.

Effective drug and alcohol education plays an important role in helping to ensure that young people are equipped with the information they need to make informed, healthy decisions and to keep themselves safe. Schools have access to specific information about drugs and alcohol, including resources via the PSHE Association: www.pshe-association.org.uk/content.aspx?CategoryID=1027

The number of new psychoactive substances, not previously encountered either in
the UK or at EU level, identified by the Home Office Forensic Early Warning
System (FEWS) from January 2011 until March 2014 is as follows :

January 2011- March 2012 -17
April 2012- March 2013 -10
April 2013- March 2014- 4

Further detailed analysis, results and other key findings are published in each
of the FEWS Annual Report available at: www.gov.uk. Analysis for 2014/15, with
reference to data held by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug
Addiction (EMCDDA), will be completed shortly.

Data from the EMCDDA is closely monitored. FEWS continues to identify and
monitor the existence of NPS in the UK through its various collection plans
including those substances first identified elsewhere in Europe and reported to
the EMCDDA.

The number of new psychoactive substances, not previously encountered either in
the UK or at EU level, identified by the Home Office Forensic Early Warning
System (FEWS) from January 2011 until March 2014 is as follows :

January 2011- March 2012 -17
April 2012- March 2013 -10
April 2013- March 2014- 4

Further detailed analysis, results and other key findings are published in each
of the FEWS Annual Report available at: www.gov.uk. Analysis for 2014/15, with
reference to data held by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug
Addiction (EMCDDA), will be completed shortly.

Data from the EMCDDA is closely monitored. FEWS continues to identify and
monitor the existence of NPS in the UK through its various collection plans
including those substances first identified elsewhere in Europe and reported to
the EMCDDA.

On 30 October the Government published its response to the new psychoactive substances review expert panel’s report. We set out new actions across legislation and enforcement as well as prevention, health services and
information-sharing. This will enhance the comprehensive approach that the UK Government has already taken to further reduce the threat to the UK posed by new psychoactive substances, which have been associated with paranoia,
psychosis, seizures, dependence and fatalities.

The Department has spent £89,455 on public awareness campaigns on NPS (New Psychoactive Substances), or so-called ‘legal’ highs, in the last year.

The objective of the campaign activity was to deter "contemplators" and "dabblers" from trying or taking NPS by:

• Raising awareness of the risks, consequences and harms of NPS use amongst those contemplating using these drugs
• Increase contemplation of the risks and dangers of NPS
• Signposting FRANK as a source of information about NPS

The table below gives a breakdown of the timing, target audience and percentage of target audience reached:

Whilst crime is falling, sentences are getting more severe. Since 2010, offenders are more likely to go to prison, and for longer.

We believe that court will always be the right place for serious and contested cases, as well as persistent offenders. There is a range of sentences available to independent judges to impose on offenders found guilty of a crime. We are clear that prison will always be the right place for serious offenders. In addition, financial penalties play a vital role within the sentencing framework, however they must have real bite and must be enforced.

The Government is already legislating to restrict the use of cautions and has recently outlined proposals to go further and replace cautions in England and Wales, with a system of suspended prosecutions. The aim is to ensure that there are more direct consequences in future for committing even minor crimes. This new approach will empower victims and give them a say in how criminals are dealt with, as well as making it easier for officers to deal with more minor offences.

Details of the numbers of cautions issued by the police and the number of defendants found guilty and sentenced at all courts, with outcomes, for possession of class A, class B and class C drugs, in England and Wales, from 2009 to 2013 (latest available) can be viewed on the Ministry of Justice website at the available link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/311455/cjs-outcomes-by-offence-2009-2013.xls

Under Offence drop down list select:

1) Possession of a controlled drug class A

2) Possession of a controlled drug class B

3) Possession of a controlled drug class C

Sentencing and fines imposed in individual cases are a matter for the independent courts, within the limits set by Parliament and following sentencing guidelines.

The number of persons found guilty, fined and given a custodial sentence for class A, class B and class C drug offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, in England and Wales, from 2009 to 2013 (the latest data available) can be viewed in the table below.

Sentencing and fines imposed in individual cases are a matter for the independent courts, within the limits set by Parliament and following sentencing guidelines.

The number of persons found guilty, fined and given a custodial sentence for class A, class B and class C drug offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, in England and Wales, from 2009 to 2013 (the latest data available) can be viewed in the table below.

The New Psychoactive Substances Expert Panel's report will be published shortly, alongside the Government's response. There was no Government
commitment to publish the report on 25 September 2014.

Fines imposed in individual cases are entirely a matter for the independent courts within the limits set by Parliament and following any relevant sentencing guidelines. The law requires that the amount of any fine must reflect both the seriousness of the offence and the known financial circumstances of the offender.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service takes the issue of fine enforcement very seriously and is working to ensure that clamping down on fine defaulters is a continued priority nationwide. The courts have a range of powers to enforce payment of fines, including the use of bailiffs to seize goods, and deductions from earnings or benefits. Over recent years we have overseen improvements to the collection of financial penalties. There was a total of £290m collected against fines and related impositions in 2013/14 which was a record high and 2% more than the previous year.

We will continue to do all it can to prevent people from using drugs in the first place and intervene early with those who start to develop problems with a particular focus on enabling local commissioners to deliver local services. The Home Office are investing in a range of programmes which have a positive impact on young people and adults, giving them the confidence, resilience and risk management skills to resist drug use. This includes continuing to update our drug awareness service, FRANK, so that young people are aware of the harms of both controlled drugs and the risks associated with uncontrolled new psychoactive substances (or ‘legal highs’). In addition, by focusing their attention on those individuals who are at most risk of misusing drugs, the Home Office have provided targeted interventions to engage with them at the earliest opportunity. This includes investing in local services to respond to local need through the introduction of a £2 billion Early Intervention Grant for local authorities. The Home Office have also developed tools for commissioners that include an Alcohol and Drug Education and Prevention Information Service (ADEPIS) that is providing practical advice and tools based on the best international evidence.

The number of offenders convicted at the magistrates' courts for selected offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, in England and Wales, from 2010 to 2013 (the latest data available) can be viewed in table 1 below.

The number of offenders sentenced at all courts to the maximum custodial sentence for selected drug offences, under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, in England and Wales, from 2010 to 2013 (the latest data available) can be viewed in table 2 below.

Data relating to the maximum fine at crown court cannot be determined as the maximum amount of fine for misuse of drug class A, class B and class C is of unlimited amount.

It is not possible to identify how much has been collected against fines imposed for specific offences without carrying out a manual search of all fine account records held by HM Courts and Tribunals Service. This information could therefore only be provided at disproportionate cost.

It does. Public health expertise is contributed to the New Psychoactive Substances review by:

Dr Owen Bowden Jones, Consultant in Addiction Psychiatry, who is leading an initiative to develop clinical knowledge summaries for New Psychoactive Substances with support from Public Health England; Paul Griffiths, Head of Science at the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, who received an award from the US National Institute for Drug Addiction in recognition of his role in developing the knowledge base on NPS; and the drug policy team at the Department of Health.

The aim of the review is to consider the new drugs landscape which the arrival of new psychoactive substances has produced, and how the UK's response should be strengthened. It is considering the legal framework to deal with these new substances, as well as other policy levers, for example in health or education which might be available to the Government.

The names of the core expert panel members are given in the table. Members were chosen for their expertise and extensive networks which they are using to bring evidence to the review.

The panel is considering national and international available evidence, and is engaging with other experts and organisations including charities as the review progresses.

The choice of expert witnesses is a matter for the panel.

As referred to in the published Terms of Reference, the panel's recommendations will be presented to Home Office Ministers in the spring.

The aim of the review is to consider the new drugs landscape which the arrival of new psychoactive substances has produced, and how the UK's response should be strengthened. It is considering the legal framework to deal with these new substances, as well as other policy levers, for example in health or education which might be available to the Government.

The names of the core expert panel members are given in the table. Members were chosen for their expertise and extensive networks which they are using to bring evidence to the review.

The panel is considering national and international available evidence, and is engaging with other experts and organisations including charities as the review progresses.

The choice of expert witnesses is a matter for the panel.

As referred to in the published Terms of Reference, the panel's recommendations will be presented to Home Office Ministers in the spring.

The aim of the review is to consider the new drugs landscape which the arrival of new psychoactive substances has produced, and how the UK's response should be strengthened. It is considering the legal framework to deal with these new substances, as well as other policy levers, for example in health or education which might be available to the Government.

The names of the core expert panel members are given in the table. Members were chosen for their expertise and extensive networks which they are using to bring evidence to the review.

The panel is considering national and international available evidence, and is engaging with other experts and organisations including charities as the review progresses.

The choice of expert witnesses is a matter for the panel.

As referred to in the published Terms of Reference, the panel's recommendations will be presented to Home Office Ministers in the spring.

The aim of the review is to consider the new drugs landscape which the arrival of new psychoactive substances has produced, and how the UK's response should be strengthened. It is considering the legal framework to deal with these new substances, as well as other policy levers, for example in health or education which might be available to the Government.

The names of the core expert panel members are given in the table. Members were chosen for their expertise and extensive networks which they are using to bring evidence to the review.

The panel is considering national and international available evidence, and is engaging with other experts and organisations including charities as the review progresses.

The choice of expert witnesses is a matter for the panel.

As referred to in the published Terms of Reference, the panel's recommendations will be presented to Home Office Ministers in the spring.