Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to deliver drug treatment to prisoners.

In England, the NHS is responsible for commissioning healthcare services in all prisons including integrated substance misuse services. The Ministry of Justice works with NHS England, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Welsh Government, to ensure all prisoners access treatment that meets their needs with a focus on abstinence-based recovery to support a meaningful recovery from drug dependency.

The Ministry of Justice is investing £120m over the next three years to get more offenders engaged in treatment. With this investment, we will enhance testing regimes in prison, expand the use of Drug Recovery Wings where prisoners commit to remain drug-free and undergo regular voluntary drug tests, support prisoners to engage with community treatment ahead of their release and increase the use of intensive drug rehabilitation requirements for those on community sentences.

Prisoners will be supported to use their time in prison to become free from drugs, and we will establish a key performance measure to monitor all prisons’ progress in ensuring that recovery is the focus and share local good practice around the estate.