Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cost to police forces of training and equipping officers to carry naloxone, and whether doing so diverts resources from other operations.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

Naloxone is an important lifesaving medicine to respond to suspected opioid overdoses, when used alongside other first aid measures.

In May 2025, the Minister for Crime and Policing wrote to Chief Constables in England and Wales to highlight the findings of a Home Office commissioned independent evaluation into police administration of naloxone and reiterate Government support for all police forces to roll-out the voluntary provision of naloxone to operational officers.

The Government expects individual police Chiefs’ to allocate resources appropriately with regard to the local area and need.

The majority of police forces in England and Wales have received naloxone supplies and training from their local authority or its commissioned drug and alcohol treatment service. Some forces have funded naloxone projects from their own budgets, through their Police and Crime Commissioner’s Office, or, for forces in Wales, through the Welsh Government.