Drug-Related Crime and Rehabilitation

Paul Burstow Excerpts

Thursday 16th December 2010 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Department of Health (Paul Burstow)]

Professor Lord Patel of Bradford OBE was asked by the Department of Health and the Ministry of Justice to lead a review of drug treatment and interventions in prisons and for people on release from prisons in England and provide a report, with recommendations.

The report aims to raise the ambition about what can be achieved in regard to drug treatment and interventions in prisons and to consider efficiencies and cost effectiveness.

Lord Patel’s report has been placed in the Library. Copies are available to hon. Members from the Vote Office and to noble Lords from the Printed Paper Office.

I would like to thank Lord Patel and his review group for the thoroughness of their work.

As outlined in the coalition programme for government, we are aiming to overhaul the system of rehabilitation to reduce offending, and to ensure that sentencing for drug use helps offenders to come off drugs. We want to promote innovation in service provision and commissioning. Payment by results will be an important tool in achieving progress.

In the comprehensive spending review, the need for continued, substantial investment in drug treatment was reaffirmed. As part of our commitment to ensuring that there is local pooling of resources it has been agreed that some budgets previously held by the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice will transfer to the Department of Health from April 2011. This will allow us to look in a more joined-up way across the total spend on drug treatment to improve the treatment journey and avoid wasting resources.

We welcome Lord Patel’s contribution to the important drugs treatment debate and will be looking carefully at the recommendations and evidence his group has collected. This Government believe that given the substantial investment in drugs and the strong association between the use of drugs and reoffending, we should be ambitious in our aims to improve efficiency and effectiveness, focusing on recovery outcomes, encouraging offenders to come off drugs.