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Drugs Misuse
11. Dr. Iddon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will make a statement on trends in fatalities due to misuse of illegal drugs. [139187]
Mr. Ian McCartney: Changes in the way these data have been collected and recorded make it difficult to compare accurately year-on-year figures.
The Government are currently considering the recommendations contained within the Advisory Council on the recent Misuse of Drugs report "Reducing Drug Related Deaths". These include proposals for improving the collection and analysis of data.
What is absolutely clear is that the number of these tragedies has risen steeply over the last 20 years. Last year there were 3,000 drug related deaths within the United Kingdom.
As part of the Government's 10 year strategy for tackling drugs misuse we are committed to reducing the number of these deaths and we have committed the resources to make this possible. By 2003-04 we plan to spend some £996 million tackling the root causes of drug misuse compared with the £700 million being spent this year.
Public Services (Diversity)
12. Helen Jackson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what progress her Department is making in promoting diversity in public services. [139188]
Mr. Stringer: We are making real progress in promoting diversity in the Civil Service. In the past six months, we have led a Managing Diversity and Cultural Change event for departments and agencies, for disabled staff a Supported Employment in the Civil Service Workshop, and we have set up the first Civil Service-wide diversity survey. We are also promoting diversity in the delivery of public services.
A new Civil Service-wide network for disabled people is being launched today by Sir Richard Wilson, Head of the Home Civil Service.
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The Civil Service Disability Network has been set up by a group of disabled people from a cross-section of Government departments and agencies. It will provide a forum for dialogue between senior managers and disabled people in the Civil Service.
The Disability Rights Commission will also be attending the launch.
Drugs Strategy
14. Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will list the main achievements of the drugs strategy. [139190]
Mr. Ian McCartney: Good progress is being made in all areas of the Government's anti-drugs strategy. Key achievements to date are outlined in the UK Anti-Drugs Co-ordinator's Annual Report for 1999-2000, published on 7 November.
- Young people
- There has been a steady expansion of drug education in schools (with 93 per cent. of secondary and 75 per cent. of primary schools now having a drug education policy in place) and targeted drug prevention programmes focusing on young people at risk.
- Treatment
- The number of drug misusers receiving treatment continues to rise.
- Communities
- We have made good progress in breaking the link between drugs and crime by identifying and helping drug misusing offenders to tackle their problems. We have rolled out the Drug Treatment and Testing Orders across England and Wales, and are well ahead of our 2002 target of ensuring that Arrest Referral Schemes cover all custody suites in all police forces in England and Wales.
- Availability
- Class A drugs with a value of £1.2 billion were prevented from reaching the UK, an increase of 33.5 per cent. on the previous year, and an increase of 9.2 per cent. in the number of Class A trafficking groups disrupted--nearly double the target.
We know there is still more to do. And new money made available to us under the recent Spending Review 2000 will help us to drive the Strategy aims forward.
Better Regulation Task Force
15. Mr. Steen: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what improvements have been made to the regulatory framework by the Better Regulation Task Force in the last 12 months. [139191]
Mr. Stringer: A statement of the responses to Better Regulation Task Force's recommendations over the last 12 months is included in its third annual report.
Copies of the report, which was published in mid-October, have been sent to the Library of the House.
Mr. Steen: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will make a statement on the administrative and running costs of the Better Regulation Task Force in each of the last three years. [140834]
Mr. Stringer: The administrative and running costs of the independent Better Regulation Task Force in each of the last three years are set out in the table.
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| Financial year | Administrative costs | Running costs |
|---|---|---|
| 1998-99 | (29)-- | 58,000 |
| 1999-2000 | (30)187,000 | 93,000 |
| 2000-01 | (31)149,000 | (31)42,000 |
(29) Not available
(30) For the nine months July-March 2000
(31) For the six months April 2000-September 2000
Notes:
1. Administrative costs are here interpreted to mean staffing costs.
2. Running costs are here interpreted to mean ancillary costs such as printing of reviews, travel and subsistence, etc.
Before July 1999, when a dedicated support team was established, the administrative costs for the Task Force were met from within the budget of the Regulatory Impact Unit (and its predecessor) in the Cabinet Office. It is not possible to identify specific costs within this overall budget.
Deregulation
16. Mr. Swayne: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many deregulation orders she plans to introduce in the next 12 months. [139193]
Mr. Stringer: There are 11 proposals under consideration at the moment.
The Government plan to introduce the Regulatory Reform Bill as soon as parliamentary time allows. This Bill would repeal sections 1-4 of the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994. Following Royal Assent any deregulation orders not already before Parliament would need to be taken forward by way of the order-making power in the Regulatory Reform Bill.
Small Businesses
17. Mr. Borrow: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps she has taken to assess the impact of Government regulation on small businesses with fewer than 10 employees. [139196]
Mr. Stringer: The Government are concerned to monitor the impact of regulation on both small and large businesses.
New guidance was published in August of this year for the production of regulatory impact assessments on legislative proposals, which specifically requires that the impact of the regulation on small firms should be considered. This Monday, 27 November, the Prime Minister announced an important further package of measures intended to help make Britain the best place in the world to set up and grow a business.
Heroin Deaths
18. Mr. Flynn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what changes have taken place in the number of heroin deaths in the United Kingdom in the past 12 years. [139197]
Mr. Ian McCartney: Due to significant changes in the way data were collected and recorded prior to 1993 it is not possible to provide direct comparisons over the last 12 years.
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However, in 1993 there were 254 deaths in England and Wales where heroin, or heroin and morphine, were recorded on the death certificate. For 1998 this figure has risen to 1,039.
The Government are determined to reduce the number of these deaths as part of our anti-drugs strategy. We have recently announced our plans to spend some £996 million by 2003-04 tackling the root causes of drug misuse compared with the £700 million being spent this year.
In addition the Government are currently considering how we can most effectively implement the recommendations contained within the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs report "Reducing drug related deaths".
Drug Treatment Services
19. Liz Blackman: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps she is taking to expand the availability of anti-drug treatment services across the United Kingdom. [139198]
Mr. Ian McCartney: A key objective of the Government's 10 year strategy for tackling drug misuse is to increase the participation of problem drug misusers, including prisoners, in drug treatment programmes which have a positive impact on health and crime by 100 per cent. by 2008 compared with 1998. The Anti-Drug Co-ordinator's report for 1999-2000 shows an increase of some 7 per cent. in those presenting to services compared to 1998 figures. In order to improve further the availability of treatment services the recent spending review announced plans to increase expenditure on treatment services from £243 million in 2000-01 to £401 million for 2003-04.
Commonwealth Games
23. Mr. Connarty: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what progress she has made in arrangements for the non-sports initiatives for the Commonwealth games in 2002. [139203]
Mr. Ian McCartney: The Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games will be the biggest multi-sport event ever hosted in Britain. They will take place during the Queen's Golden Jubilee year, a fact which is likely to give the event special significance nationally and internationally. This Government place great importance on the need for the Games to be successful--positive perceptions across the world are fundamental to the success of future bids for other major events--and as demonstrated by the magnificent Sydney Olympics, international sporting events can bring considerable gains to a nation.
There are two key non-sporting initiatives associated with the Manchester 2002 Games--the Volunteer Programme and the nationwide 'Spirit of Friendship' Festival.
The experience of the Sydney Olympics has demonstrated that the Volunteer Programme is a key factor in delivering a successful Games.
Fifteen thousand volunteers are needed to fulfil important roles at sporting venues and the athletes' village; they will act as drivers and stewards, they will help to escort athletes and officials around the city and above all they will act as 'Ambassadors' for Manchester,
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the North-West and Britain. They will come from all walks of life, men and women, young and old--a true cross section of a community which is proud to host the Games in England. A pre-Volunteer programme will focus on disadvantaged areas in the North-West and use the Games as a catalyst to encourage long-term unemployed, ethnic minority and young (16-24 years) people into work, through the Commonwealth Games experience. Manchester's Volunteer Programme will be launched officially in spring 2001.
The 'Spirit of Friendship' Festival is planned to be a vibrant arts, cultural, educational and sporting festival reaching out across the UK and beyond Manchester. It is designed to maximise public participation, generate a sense of pride, embrace the Government's priorities of social inclusion, youth and multi-culturalism and celebrate the extensive cultural contribution of people from Commonwealth originating communities living in this country.
Plans are progressing on the four strands of the Festival and in particular, the education strand--a series of cross curricular programmes promoting good citizenship--will be launched in March 2001 and rolled-out nationwide in schools by September 2001. The sports strand will engage thousands of school children in regional 'Youth Games' and 'Taster' days and millions of people will be given the chance to see the Queen's Baton in a relay around the UK and across the Commonwealth. Colleagues in the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and the Arts Councils are committed to a programme that will celebrate diversity of talents in the arts and cultural arena.
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