Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many convictions there were for those caught driving whilst under the influence of drugs in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, (3) 2021, (4) 2022, (5) 2023, and (6) 2024.

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on convictions at criminal courts in England and Wales in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, including convictions for driving whilst under the influence of drugs. They can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.

The below table provides the number of convictions from 2019 to 30 June 2024 (latest available data) for ‘Driving or attempting to drive a motor vehicle whilst unfit through drink or drugs (impairment) - drugs (MOT)’, England and Wales. Source: Court Proceeding Database [1][2].

[1] Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

[2] These figures are presented on a principal offence basis - i.e. reporting information relating to the most serious offence that a defendant was dealt with for. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.