All prisons must have a zero-tolerance approach to drugs. Introducing units where prisoners can self-administer illegal drugs would undermine that approach, and the Ministry of Justice has no plans to do so.

As set out in the Prison Strategy White Paper, we are committed to ensuring that all prisoners with a substance misuse need have access to high-quality, recovery focused treatment. This includes enhancing testing regimes in prison, expanding the use of Incentivised Substance Free Living units where prisoners commit to remain drug-free and undergo regular voluntary drug tests, and supporting prisoners to engage with community treatment ahead of their release. We will also ensure prisoners are protected from the harms of drug misuse by supplying life-saving naloxone medication in prisons, for staff to administer to anyone who has taken an opiate overdose.

On 20 May, the Government announced £300 million of funding over the next three years to support every council in England and Wales in preventing youth offending. The funding will help children and young people to address the root cause of their offending, and divert them away from courts and custody wherever possible. This includes where their offending is due to alcohol or other substance misuse.

There are several other options available to Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) to address problematic substance misuse where this is a driver of offending. Many YOTs offer short programmes giving advice and education about alcohol or cannabis use, as well as one-to-one sessions to address more habitual drug use. Interventions to address substance misuse are available both on a voluntary basis and when applied as a condition to a caution or an order to address specific offences.

We are committed to ensuring all those who need drug treatment in prison have access to a full range of treatment options, including abstinence-based interventions, to support a meaningful recovery from drug dependency.

In 2011, responsibility for health services, including substance misuse treatment, in prisons transferred from the National Offender Management Service to NHS England. Data on the number of prisoners in treatment services is collected via the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System and can be obtained from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities.

Substance misuse treatment in secure settings: 2020 to 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

HM Prison & Probation Service is proactive in detecting, investigating and taking disciplinary action against the small number of prison staff who break the rules, and involve the police where appropriate.

We are also spending £100m on tightening up prison security, including through X-Ray body scanners and drug dogs to stop contraband getting into our prisons

Prison officers who are found to be unfit for duty through drug abuse or taking prohibited drugs while at work or on duty are subject to procedures set out in the HMPPS Conduct and Discipline policy. Such misconduct may lead to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.

In the last ten years, 33 prison officers have faced a disciplinary action charge linked to drink and drug related offences and I have included a further year-by-year breakdown of these charges below. Currently, HMPPS records drink and drugs charges within the same category on their HR system. It is therefore not possible to provide data for drug offences alone.

Table 1: Band 3-5 Prison Officer staff charged with selected offences related to drink and drugs, 2011/12 to 2020/21

Source: NOMS Case Management Application and HMPPS electronic Performance Management (ePM)

Notes:

1). Band 3-5 Officers includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officers (incl specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officers, and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.

2). Conduct and discipline cases are defined as where a penalty has been imposed on a member of HMPPS staff for a reason of conduct.

3). Staff with at least one conduct and discipline case concluded during the year.

4). A case is defined as a unique combination of case and individual member of staff. Where more than one member of staff is involved in a single case these are counted separately in this table. Equally staff involved in more than one case during the year are counted multiple times.

5). The disciplinary charges include the following:

- Unfit for duty through drink/drugs

- Trafficking and sub charge of drugs

-Criminal conviction and sub charge of possession /supply of drugs

It is impossible to separate out drinks and drugs, therefore, the table above may over represent officers subject to disciplinary action due to drugs.

~ Denotes suppressed values of 2 or fewer or other values which would allow values of 2 or fewer to be derived by subtraction. Low numbers are suppressed to prevent disclosure in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 2018.

(p) Provisional data

The government does not hold this information

A robust law enforcement response is a fundamental part of the government's drug strategy and we are taking coordinated action to tackle illegal drugs alongside associated criminal activity. Law enforcement agencies continue to work with internet service providers to shut down UK-based websites found to be committing offences such as selling drugs controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

The government has been clear that more needs to be done to tackle online harms, including sale of illegal goods. That is why the Government published the Online Harms White Paper, which sets out our plans for world-leading legislation to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online and hold companies to account for tackling a wide range of online harms.

We are considering the precise timing of next steps across Government

An impact assessment was published on the gov.uk website prior to the control of pregabalin under Class C of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 in April 2019. Impact assessments are routinely prepared prior to the control of substances under the 1971 Act and we regularly meet partners, such as the police, who provide valuable insights into the effect of control on drug markets

Since 2009/10, the annual number of alcohol-related violent incidents has significantly declined – it is now down by 44%. We have seen declines in the number of Penalty Notices for Disorder issued for being drunk and disorder-ly, and fewer adults perceive people being drunk or rowdy in their area as a problem than ten years ago.

We continue to take action to improve local intelligence, establish effective local partnerships and equip police and local authorities with the right powers to take effective action against alcohol-related crime and harms in the night time economy. Current action to tackle alcohol-related harms includes building on our Local Alcohol Action Area programme, considering how to tackle drunk and disorderly passengers at airports, and identifying new work to address alcohol related domestic abuse and sexual violence.

We will deliver the commitments we made to tackle alcohol in relation to domestic abuse in our response to the Domestic Abuse Consultation published in January 2019.

We have already taken action to tackle alcohol as a contributory risk factor in some cases of domestic abuse by developing training for frontline professionals and will roll this out over the summer. We will take action on alcohol and sexual violence, and trial a third phase of our successful Local Alcohol Action Areas programme to continue our targeted support for local areas.

The Department of Health and Social Care is investing £6million in a three year programme to improve outcomes for children with alcohol dependent parents.

The Government is taking a range of action to reduce the demand for illegal drugs, including Class A drugs.

As set out in the 2017 Drug Strategy, our prevention approach combines uni-versal action for all young people with targeted action for groups at particular risk, including young people with a range of vulnerabilities, offenders and homeless people.

Our universal approach focuses on supporting evidence-based programmes which have a positive impact on young people, giving them the confidence and resilience to resist drug misuse. This includes investing in the Alcohol and Drugs Education and Prevention Information Service which provides practical advice and tools to schools and educators, and developing the 'Rise Above' digital hub. The Government is also introducing compulsory health education in all schools from September 2020, which will include a focus on the risks associated with drug misuse.

Alongside this, on 8 February the Home Secretary announced the appoint-ment of Professor Dame Carol Black to lead a major independent review of drugs, which will look at a wide range of issues including the drivers behind recent trends in Class A drug misuse.

We know that there is a strong link between drug misuse and offending, and offenders who use heroin and crack cocaine are estimated to commit 45% of all acquisitive crime.

The Government recognises that there are strong links between drug misuse and offending. Our Drug Strategy is clear that supporting people to address their dependence on drugs through treatment and recovery support is critical to tackling the risk of reoffending. This includes the use of health-based, rehabilitative interventions within the criminal justice system to help prevent further substance misuse and offending.

In addition, I chair the National Retail Crime Steering Group which brings together key partners to drive forward progress on tackling retail crime.

The Government welcomes the One Too Many campaign for the contribution it makes in raising public awareness of a zero-tolerance approach to passengers who get drunk and act in a disruptive way.

The participation of many airports, airline and airside licensed premises in the One Too Many campaign is positive. It forms part of wider efforts by the aviation industry, such as a Code of Practice on Drunk and Disorderly Passengers and improved staff training, to tackle this rare but unacceptable behaviour.

Prompted by concerns about such behaviour, the Government published a Call for Evidence on airside alcohol licensing at international airports in England and Wales last November. Our response will be published shortly.

We are considering the precise timing of next steps across Government.

There is no legal framework for the provision of drug consumption rooms in the UK and we have no plans to introduce them. For drug consumption rooms to operate it means allowing dealers to sell the most harmful drugs to users in our neighbourhoods. We are not prepared to sanction or condone activity that promotes the illcit drugs trade and the harms that illicit trade causes to individuals and communities.

A range of offences are likely to be committed in the operation of drug consumption rooms. It is for local police forces to enforce the law in such circumstances and, as with other offences of this type, we would expect them to do so

The UK's approach on drugs remains clear - we must prevent drug use in our communities and support people dependent on drugs through treatment and recovery.

An excellent BBC South East report showed that police seizures of ketamine have increased by a third, and are at a 12-year peak. What can the ministerial team do to reassure me that matters are under control, and can I meet them to discuss this local scourge?

Nationally, the Government is already delivering a range of actions through the 2017 Drug Strategy to prevent drug misuse in our communities, support people to recover from dependence on drugs, and support enforcement partners to tackle the illicit drug trade. We have established a Home Secretary-chaired Board which includes representation from Government departments and wider partners that are critical to drive implementation of the commitments in the 2017 Drug Strategy.

However, we recognise there is still further to go to tackle the problems caused by drugs.,That is why, on 8 February, the Home Secretary appointed Professor Dame Carol Black to lead a major review that will look into the ways in which drugs are fuelling serious violence.

First announced in the Home Secretary’s conference speech in October, the initial stage of the wide-ranging review will look at who drug users are, what they are taking, and how often in order to build the most in-depth and comprehensive picture of this issue to date.

The review, which will build on existing Government strategies to combat drugs, serious violence and serious and organised crime, will examine the harms that drugs cause and the best ways to prevent drug-taking.

Drugs are controlled where there is scientific and medical evidence that they are harmful to health and society. The possession of any amount of a controlled drug is a criminal offence and the supply of a controlled drug is an even more serious offence. No illegal drug-taking can be assumed to be safe and there is no safe way to take them.

The Government’s approach remains clear: we must prevent illicit drug use in our communities and help those dependent on drugs to recover while ensuring our drug laws are enforced. In relation to drug testing at events, chief constables are responsible for operational decisions in their local area and we are not standing in their way.

The National Policing Lead for Drugs provided updated advice in the summer to all Chief Constables to make them aware of matters that they should consider if working with event organisers who may wish to use drug testing services. He is currently considering this issue further in conjunction with forces and will produce further advice for police forces in the spring.