Prisons (Substance Testing) Bill

Duncan Baker Excerpts

2nd reading & 2nd reading: House of Commons
Friday 16th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Duncan Baker (North Norfolk) (Con)]

This is an important and necessary Bill, as our Government and prison services continue to tackle the scourge of drugs in an ever-changing landscape. It is a sad fact—I hate to use the word “evolve”—that drugs appear to evolve. Our prison services in England and Wales must therefore have the capability to test for illegal substances. The Bill will simplify that process, adding newly identified psychoactive substances to existing powers for officers to carry out mandatory tests.

In my constituency, I have HMP Bure, a category C men’s prison located in the parish of Scottow. I have paid tribute before to the sterling work, particularly throughout the pandemic, of the many prison officers and staff. HMP Bure is often described as a model example. Many of the prisoners are over 50 and, in comparison, drug abuse is relatively low at 13%. As we heard earlier from the hon. Member for West Ham (Ms Brown), I find it incredible that Spice is impregnated into paper and that sniffer dogs are unable to detect it. What an incredibly difficult situation we find ourselves in. Anything we can do to help to improve that situation and try to tackle the scourge of drugs is welcome.

My right hon. Friend the Member for Chesham and Amersham (Dame Cheryl Gillan) is not able to be here, but the Bill has been very ably presented by my hon. Friend the Member for North West Durham (Mr Holden). I sincerely commend it to the House.