Prisons

Lord Patel of Bradford Excerpts

Thursday 20th October 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Patel of Bradford (Lab)]

My Lords, the Government have, I believe, acknowledged that one of the major contributing factors to the increase of violence in prisons is the use of psychoactive substances, especially Spice, and have taken steps to ensure that possession and supply is restricted in prisons. Does the Minister agree that it is important to have a co-ordinated response to tackling demand and all drug misuse—not only psychoactive substances but heroin, crack and cannabis, and the increasing misuse of prescribed drugs? If not, we will have a scattergun, reactive approach to tackling this issue. It is important to include drug misuse in the White Paper.

[Lord Keen of Elie]

It is acknowledged that drugs, in particular psychoactive substances, are a major problem and a source of violence in the prison community. Indeed, a report by the Ministry of Justice in 2013 noted that more than 80% of the prison population admitted using illegal drugs prior to their incarceration. The availability of drugs in prison remains a major problem and one that we are addressing. For example, new penalties in respect of the use of drones are being introduced and further reforms have been taken to try to reduce the ability of people to bring drugs into prison. However, we have to remember that individual prisons are communities with a massive movement of people in and out, whether they be new prisoners or visitors, and control of illegal substances is a major problem.