| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
DELEGATED LEGISLATION
Motion made, and Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 118(6) (Standing Committees on Delegated Legislation),
Motion made, and Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 118(6) (Standing Committees on Delegated Legislation),
Motion made, and Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 118(6) (Standing Committees on Delegated Legislation),
Ordered,
Ordered,
Mr. Humfrey Malins (Woking):
I am glad to have the opportunity--[Interruption.]
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Michael Lord):
Order. The hon. Member may like to wait a moment. Will hon. Members leave the Chamber as quickly and as quietly as possible?
Mr. Malins:
I am glad to have the opportunity to raise the important matter of drug and alcohol abuse in prisons. The problem gets worse by the day, and may reach crisis level unless urgent action is taken.
I shall make two preliminary points. First, I declare an interest as a practising solicitor in the field of crime for many years, a former acting metropolitan stipendiary magistrate, and a recorder of the Crown court. Secondly, I shall not seek to score party political points. The problem that faces this Government was faced by the Conservative Government. As with many other issues, it would benefit from an all-party approach by hon. Members who wish to be constructive and who have some knowledge of and an interest in this subject.
The problem of drug and alcohol abuse in prisons is much more acute than the public realise.
Let us go back a little in the offenders cycle and understand that drug and alcohol abuse is a major contributor to criminal offending. Some 50 per cent. of property crimes in this country are related to substance misuse. Most burglars who appear before me have taken the goods simply to sell them to raise the money to fund their drug habit, some of them needing as much as £500 a week. More than half the criminal cases in London's magistrates courts are drink or drug-related, and 20 per cent. of people who are arrested in police stations test positive for drugs.
A defendant who is addicted to drugs or alcohol may be sent to prison. What next? Incredibly, his problem may get even worse. There are more than 130 prisons, and 150,000 people pass through our prison system each year. Some 25 per cent. of receptions are on drugs at the point at which they enter the prison system. Drug use and distribution in prison can and often do become the focus of daily activity, filling the vacuum left by the regrettable absence of work and education opportunities.
Are drugs of all sorts and alcohol freely available in prison? In a written reply on 14 July, the Minister told me that, in the year 1996-97, some 21,700 mandatory drug test samples were positive. That figure includes results from both random and targeted tests that led to 16,757 adjudications for misuse of controlled drugs. Information on the number of instances of alcohol consumption was not available, but, anecdotally, I hear that it is very high.
How do these substances get into our prison system, and what should we do about it? There are perhaps four main ways. First, they enter through social visits by the friends and families of prisoners who are allowed contact visits, who I understand are not intimately searched.
Secondly, prisoners themselves can and do bring drugs back into prison after collecting them on some outside trip, perhaps to court for a remand or on a hospital visit.
Thirdly, there are clearly some breaches of the perimeter walls of our prisons, and drugs are occasionally thrown over them to be collected at a preordained point. Fourthly--one is reluctant to say this, because by and large our prison staff are dedicated and excellent--it is likely that in the system there are some corrupt staff and, indeed, some corrupt professional visitors--lawyers and the like--who abuse their preferential access by bringing in drugs.
I recently asked the Minister whether he would make it his policy to see that prison officers, before they came on duty, were subject to the same search policy as that which applies to visitors. The answer was no. I was told that professional visitors, including prison officers, would be subject to a modified search, while general visitors would continue to be subject to a full rub-search procedure. That follows the Prison Service assessment that, although there are exceptions, professional visitors and staff generally pose a lower risk.
It may not be possible to eliminate these substances entirely in prisons, and perhaps I am naive in hoping that we might. Let us not forget that more than 1,300 visitors were arrested trying to smuggle illicit drugs into prisons in the past year. The Minister should consider the introduction of even more draconian measures to make the problem of getting drugs and alcohol into prisons, which is fairly easy at the moment, nearly impossible in times ahead.
I have four suggestions for the Minister, which may help. First, prison officers, all professional visitors and all prison staff could, and perhaps should, be subject to a full rub-down search on entering a prison. Secondly, any prisoner who tests positive after a mandatory drugs test should receive only non-contact visits for the remainder of his or her sentence.
Thirdly, any such prisoner should also receive a substantial loss of remission of sentence. Fourthly, in addition to any other penalty, any visitor who is caught attempting to smuggle drugs or alcohol into prison should not be entitled to a further visit to that prison or the prisoner during the remainder of the prisoner's sentence.
Many of those in prison who are addicted to alcohol or drugs cry out for help, and it is that area on which I shall now concentrate. Alcoholism and drug dependency are arguably illnesses which can never be cured. However, I am convinced that substantial investment to help to get addicts off drink or drugs is money well spent. It will ultimately save this country's criminal justice system and people much money and personal anguish.
I am not sure that much has been done until relatively recently. For many years, I have visited and talked to dozens, possibly hundreds, of prisoners throughout the south-east. Many have been addicts. They have all known that drugs and alcohol were freely available. I have always asked, "What is done here in this prison to help people who wish to be helped to get rid of the habit?", and all too often I have received the reply, "Not very much."
I recently visited Coldingley prison in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Mr. Hawkins), where I learned more about the outstanding work of RAPT--the Rehabilitation of Addicted Prisoners Trust. My hon. Friend the Member
for Westbury (Mr. Faber) is a trustee of that outstanding organisation, and I commend him for his work and interest.
RAPT recognises that the majority of inmates continue to use drugs while in prison, and that some will develop the habit for the first time during their stay. It knows, as we know, that the use of drugs in prisons causes problems of violence, disorder and intimidation as well as the spread of infection. It points out that the average cost to the taxpayer of keeping someone in prison is nearly £24,000 a year, and that, unless the addict's problem is confronted and treated in prison, he is almost certain to return to uncontrolled drug use and crime on release. Time in prison is an ideal time to break the vicious cycle of drug abuse, crime and imprisonment.
RAPT is a charity offering treatment to alcoholics and drug addicts in prison. It was established under the name of the Addictive Diseases Trust in 1991, opening its first treatment unit in Downview prison a year later. Its aim is to help prisoners to recover from addiction while serving a prison sentence, and its programmes are based on the principle of 12-step recovery, which was first applied in prisons in the United States, but was extensively modified to fit the requirements of our system.
RAPT uses trained counsellors, many of whom are recovered addicts, some with experience of prison life. It has intensive and abstinence-based programmes. It does not offer a soft option. It is a tough course, but it is successful.
Early evaluation results have shown that more than 50 per cent. of those received on to RAPT's programmes, which are established in a number of prisons, progressed to graduation, usually after 10 to 12 weeks. Among those graduates, relapse into drug misuse and reoffending is rare. I was privileged to meet former prisoners who have successfully completed the programme and are voluntarily helping others to help to recover their self-esteem. One prisoner said:
Therefore, my message to the Government is this. Let us all strive to prevent the circulation of drink and drugs in prison: first understand the scale of the problem; next, continue the previous Government's anti-drug strategy, which has had some success and which I commend in many ways; continue the mandatory drug testing scheme, despite its problems, which we know about; increase the resources available for drug treatment programmes in the prison system; give prisoners real incentives to take advantage of treatment options; consider whether the programme so successfully undertaken by RAPT can be further encouraged and extended; improve after-prison care.
That the Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning) Order 1997 (S.I., 1997, No. 1565), dated 20th June 1997, a copy of which was laid before this House on 24th June, be approved.--[Mr. Robert Ainsworth.]
Question agreed to.
That the draft Supply of Beer (Tied Estate) (Amendment) Order 1997, which was laid before this House on 26th June, be approved.--[Mr. Robert Ainsworth.]
Question agreed to.
That the draft Further Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1997, which was laid before this House on 3rd July, be approved.--[Mr. Robert Ainsworth.]
Question agreed to.
That Mr. Peter Bradley, Mr. Ronnie Campbell, Dr. Lynda Clark, Mr. Mike Hancock, Miss Melanie Johnson, Mr. Fraser Kemp, Fiona Mactaggart, Mr. Rhodri Morgan, Mr. David Ruffley, Mr. Richard Shepherd and Mr. Andrew Tyrie be members of the Select Committee on Public Administration.--[Mr. Robert Ainsworth.]
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Michael Lord):
With the leave of the House, we shall take the next three motions together.
That Ms Diane Abbott, Mr. Donald Anderson, Mrs. Virginia Bottomley, Sir Peter Emery, Mr. Norman A. Godman, Mr. David Heath, Mr. Eric Illsley, Mr. Andrew Mackinlay, Mr. Ernie Ross, Mr. Ted Rowlands, Sir John Stanley and Mr. David Wilshire be members of the Foreign Affairs Committee.--[Charlotte Atkins, on behalf of the Committee of Selection.]
Ordered,
That Mr. Richard Allan, Mr. Robin Corbett, Mr. Ross Cranston, Mr. Douglas Hogg, Mr. Gerald Howarth, Ms Beverley Hughes, Mr. Martin Linton, Mr. Humfrey Malins, Mr. Chris Mullin, Mr. Marsha Singh and Mr. David Winnick be members of the Home Affairs Committee.--[Charlotte Atkins, on behalf of the Committee of Selection.]
Ordered,
That Mrs. Liz Blackman, Mr. Malcolm Bruce, Mr. Charles Clarke, Mr. Tony Colman, Mr. Jim Cousins, Mr. Quentin Davies, Ms Ruth Kelly, Sir Peter Lloyd, Mr. Giles Radice, Mr. Brian Sedgemore, Sir Michael Spicer and Sir Teddy Taylor be members of the Treasury Committee.--[Charlotte Atkins, on behalf of the Committee of Selection.]
16 Jul 1997 : Column 499
"Before coming on the programme, I had used drugs almost every day for the previous 19 years of my life sentence. It is still astounding to me that I had to come to prison to find my freedom. I have not had a drug or a drink for three years, and I am still inside. It's a miracle."
The RAPT programme has been praised by many people in positions of authority, and I commend it and its like to the Government.
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |