Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to improve substance misuse services for people in prison; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of taking a public health approach to such misuse.

We work closely with NHS England to ensure that all prisoners who need it have access to high-quality substance misuse treatment, so they can turn their back on addiction. As part of the ambitious cross-Government Drug Strategy, we are rolling out a range of interventions to support prisoners off drugs and into recovery. This includes increasing the number of Incentivised Substance-Free Living units, where prisoners commit to remaining free of illicit drugs with regular drug testing and incentives. We now have over 60 of these wings across the estate and are aiming to reach up to 100 by March 2025. This will dramatically expand the number of prisoners who have access to these wings.

We also know that keeping prison leavers in treatment is crucial to reducing reoffending and we are working closely with health partners to strengthen continuity of care. The Department for Health and Social Care have invested £532m to increase drug treatment in the community. We are also recruiting over 50 Health and Justice Coordinators nationwide to improve links between prison and community treatment services. This recruitment will strengthen join-up between probation and health partners to improve access to treatment.