Violence of any kind in prison is not tolerated and all assaults are treated extremely seriously. The reason behind a violent incident is not routinely recorded and therefore we do not have an estimate of the number of violent incidents that might be attributable to the use of legal highs. The National Offender Management Service is taking appropriate steps to tackle violence and after conducting a comprehensive review will be issuing further guidance early next year. Work is also underway with the police and the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure that violent crimes are investigated and prosecuted.

The principal aim of the youth justice system in England and Wales is the prevention of offending by children and young people under the age of 18. Courts must have regard to this aim and to the welfare of the offender when sentencing a child or young person with the emphasis being on approaches that seem most likely to be effective with young people.

Table 1: Number of Juveniles sentenced to immediate custody for all drug offences[1] and for primary non-Class A drug offences[2] England and Wales 2009-2013[3][4]

Custodial sentences are available for those young people who commit the most serious offences and who fail to respond to community interventions.

There are also a number of community sentences which are available to the courts which are not covered by the figures above. As part of the Youth Rehabilitation Order, a Drug Treatment Requirement is available, where the young person’s drug use has been identified as a substantive factor in their offending behaviour. The Drug Treatment Requirement means that the young person must submit to treatment during the period specified in the order with a view to the reduction or elimination of the young person’s dependency on, or propensity to misuse, drugs.

[1] Data includes Sections 12, 13, 19(a), (b) Criminal Justice Co-Operation Act 1990, RR.6(5), 7, 8, & 9(2) Controlled Drugs (Drug Precursors)(Community External Trade) Regs 2008, Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (SS.50(2), (3) & (5), 68 (2) & (4) & 170(1), (2), (3) & (4) & Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 SS 327-330, 333, 334 (1,2) & 336 (5) & (6)

[2] Data excludes the following offence descriptions and corresponding statutes: Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 SEC 4(2)(3) SS.170(1)(b) & (3) & (4) & Sch.1,P.1 SEC 19, SEC 8, Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 SEC 4(2)(3) SS.170(1)(b) & (3) & (4) & Sch.1,P.1 SEC 19, SEC 8, Criminal Justice (International Co-operation) Act 1990 S.19(a)(b)

[3] The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.

[4] Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) takes the issue of all contraband in prisons extremely seriously and deploys a comprehensive range of robust searching and security measures to detect items of contraband both at the point of entry to the prison and concealed within the prison. We do not tolerate drugs in prison and anyone caught with them will be punished and could face further prosecution.

The success of NOMS Drug Strategy is illustrated by the reduction of drug misuse - as measured by the random mandatory drug testing programme - which has declined by 17.0 percentage points over the past 17 years (positive rates were 24.4% in 1996/7 and 7.4% in 2013/14) despite the fact that more drugs are being tested for.

New psychoactive substances (NPS) are a recent issue affecting many parts of society, both here and abroad, including our prisons. NOMS is working with its partners to develop methods for testing for NPS and preventing them from entering establishments. Work is also taking place to increase levels of understanding about the risks that NPS present to offenders, with a view to providing them and those who work with them in prisons and the community with appropriate information, guidance and support.

The Government recently introduced an amendment to the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill to expand prisons' powers to test prisoners for non-controlled drugs. This would allow prison staff to conduct mandatory drug tests on prisoners for non-controlled drugs, such as new psychoactive substances and medicines, if the required tests were available.

All figures in this answer have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. The data has been extracted by searching for the exact terms given in the question and not any slang or alternative spellings. The data are not subject to audit.

The table below gives the number of seizures in prisons in England and Wales in the timeframe requested of Mephedrone, BZP, Spice and Ketamine, and described exactly as such on the database.

The term “Legal Highs” represents hundreds of different substances of which spice is just one. To try to calculate the instances of all such substances being confiscated would therefore only be possible at disproportionate cost.

The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) takes the issue of all contraband in prisons extremely seriously and deploys a comprehensive range of robust searching and security measures to detect items of contraband both at the point of entry to the prison and concealed within the prison. We do not tolerate drugs in prison and anyone caught with them will be punished and could face further prosecution.

The success of NOMS Drug Strategy is illustrated by the reduction of drug misuse - as measured by the random mandatory drug testing programme - which has declined by 17.0 percentage points over the past 17 years (positive rates were 24.4% in 1996/7 and 7.4% in 2013/14) despite the fact that more drugs are being tested for.

New psychoactive substances are a recent issue affecting many parts of society, both here and abroad, including our prisons. NOMS is working with its partners to develop methods for testing for NPS and preventing them from entering establishments. Work is also taking place to increase levels of understanding about the risks that NPS present to offenders, with a view to providing them and those who work with them in prisons and the community with appropriate information, guidance and support.

The Government recently introduced an amendment to the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill to expand prisons' powers to test prisoners for non-controlled drugs. This would allow prison staff to conduct mandatory drug tests on prisoners for non-controlled drugs, such as new psychoactive substances and medicines, if the required tests were available.

All figures in this answer have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. The data has been extracted by searching for the exact terms given in the question and not any slang or alternative spellings. The data are not subject to audit.

The table below gives the number of seizures in prisons in England and Wales in the timeframe requested of Mephedrone, BZP, Spice and Ketamine, and described exactly as such on the database.

The term “Legal Highs” represents hundreds of different substances of which spice is just one. To try to calculate the instances of all such substances being confiscated would therefore only be possible at disproportionate cost.

The number of offenders found guilty at all courts of sales of nitrous oxide under the Intoxicating Substances (Supply) Act 1985, in England and Wales, from 2011 to 2013 can be viewed in the table.