Question to the Home Office:

The ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on establishing a cross-government strategy to tackle drug trafficking.

There are three cross-Government strategies in place which address different aspects of the illegal drugs trade and which, taken together, provide a holistic approach to tackling drug trafficking in the UK.

The Government’s Drug Strategy, published in July 2017, sets out a balanced approach, which brings together law enforcement, health, community and global partners to tackle the illicit drug trade, protect the most vulnerable and help those with drug dependency to recover and turn their lives around. Tough enforcement is a fundamental part of our drug strategy. We are taking a smarter approach to restricting the supply of drugs: adapting our approach to reflect changes in criminal activity; using innovative data and technology; and taking coordinated partnership action to tackle drugs alongside other criminal activity.

The Government’s Serious and Organised Crime (SOC) Strategy focuses on disrupting the organised criminal networks which import and supply the illegal drugs in the UK (in addition to other illicit goods and services). It also aims to prevent people from becoming involved in SOC (including drug trafficking) and protect the border. As set out in the National Security Capability Review, we will publish an updated Serious and Organised Crime Strategy later this year. This will focus on coordinating the use of all available law enforcement, criminal justice, diplomatic and other tools to disrupt high-harm organised crime groups. A critical element of this is stopping those involved in SOC, including drug traffickers, from profiting from their criminal enterprises through cash seizures, asset forfeitures, money laundering prosecutions and civil or criminal recovery prosecutions.

The Government’s Serious Violence Strategy was published in April 2018 and outlines an ambitious programme involving 61 commitments and actions. The actions set out in the Strategy tackles a range of issues, such as county lines distribution networks, which exploit vulnerable young people and adults in order to move and sell drugs across the country, and the misuse of drugs. The Serious Violence Strategy is not focused on law enforcement alone. It is also dependent on partnerships across a number of sectors, such as education, health, social services, housing, youth services, victim services and others. This approach establishes a new balance between prevention and rigorous law enforcement activity, shifting towards steering young people away from crime in the first place and tackling the root causes.