Prisons (Substance Testing) Bill

Baroness Sater Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 16th April 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sater (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I am honoured to speak in support of this important Bill, which my dear friend the late Cheryl Gillan introduced as a Private Member’s Bill in the other place. Cheryl was a great mentor and friend to so many; I was lucky enough to have encountered this when I first met her 30 years ago. She was so kind and generous with her time and will be sorely missed. She is a huge loss to the other place and to politics in general.

The overarching purpose of the Bill is to help ensure that ultimately our prisons and young offender institutes are not only safer and more secure but, importantly, better environments for rehabilitation. We know that drugs affect the mental and physical health of prisoners, and the use of psychoactive drugs and the misuse of prescription-only and pharmacy medicines is a relatively new but growing problem in our criminal justice system. It is vital that we have a robust process in place that is not only effective but able to respond to the rapid changes in the market for illicit and legal substances. The Bill would make it easier for prison officers to identify these substances and, in turn, lead to better and more effective treatments.

While important, better testing in isolation will not necessarily lead to the better rehabilitation outcomes that we are all determined to see. From the Black review, commissioned in 2019, we know that an estimated one-third of the prison population is there for drug-related crime. Of these, 40% have been convicted of specific drugs offences, such as trafficking, while 60% are serving sentences for crimes related to drug addiction, such as theft.

Moreover, the review highlights that the lack of purposeful activity—and the sense of boredom and hopelessness that it causes—is a “significant factor” in driving the demand for drugs. Purposeful activity including, physical activity and sport, can contribute to better mental and physical health among prisoners. Data also shows that prisons that deliver these activities have lower rates of positive drug tests and drug finds.

We send people to prison for punishment, public protection and rehabilitation. Only by prioritising rehabilitation can we reduce reoffending and, in turn, the number of future victims of crime. The Bill is an important step to that ultimate aim, and, although it makes only minor changes to the testing regime currently in place, improving this capability will make a significant impact in tackling the prevalence of drugs in the criminal justice system, improving those all-important rehabilitation outcomes.