Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that prisoners with drug dependence can access community drug treatment services in their community as soon as possible after release.

We work closely with the Department for Health and Social Care, NHS England and the Welsh Government to support access to, and continuity of, care in custody and into the community, in line with the goals of the Adult National Partnership Agreement published on 23 February 2023.

As part of our up to £120m investment in getting more offenders into treatment, we are focused on ensuring dedicated staff are in place to ensure continuity of treatment as soon as someone is released. We are recruiting Health and Justice Coordinators in every probation region to improve links between prison and local treatment services, and Drug Strategy Leads in key prisons to ensure a focus on treatment. We are also rolling out more video calling technology, providing prisoners with the opportunity to engage with community treatment pre-release.