Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce the usage of Spice in prisons.

We have made it a criminal offence to possess new psychoactive substances in prison and trained more than 300 sniffer dogs specifically to detect these drugs.

We have launched a Drugs Taskforce, working with law enforcement and health partners from across government to restrict supply, reduce demand and build recovery from drug use, including psychoactive substances.

Our Taskforce is working with 10 of the most challenging prisons to understand their situation and will invest £6 million to tackle drug supply in these establishments, alongside its wider work to provide support and guidance across the prison estate.

We are also adopting pioneering approaches such as our ‘Drug Recovery Prison’ pilot at HMP Holme House, which is leading the way in tackling the supply of drugs and putting offenders on a long-term path to recovery.