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<p>The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) takes the issue of all contraband
in prisons extremely seriously and deploys a comprehensive range of robust searching
and security measures to detect items of contraband both at the point of entry to
the prison and concealed within the prison. We do not tolerate drugs in prison and
anyone caught with them will be punished and could face further prosecution.</p><p>
</p><p>The number of finds of drug seizures is provided in table 1. This table provides
management information on drug seizures, counting a find of each drug type as one
seizure. As these data have come from administrative systems they are subject to the
issues inherent in any large scale administrative system, although every effort is
made to record data accurately. This data has not been quality assured to the standards
required of official statistics.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="7"><p>Table
1: Number of drug seizures in West Midlands prison and YOI establishments, 2009/10
to 2013/14</p></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>2010/11</p></td><td><p>2011/12</p></td><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td>
</td></tr><tr><td><p>Birmingham</p></td><td><p>9</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>45</p></td><td><p>101</p></td><td>
</td></tr><tr><td><p>Brinsford</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>15</p></td><td><p>21</p></td><td><p>55</p></td><td>
</td></tr><tr><td><p>Dovegate</p></td><td><p>41</p></td><td><p>70</p></td><td><p>74</p></td><td><p>122</p></td><td><p>135</p></td><td>
</td></tr><tr><td><p>Drake Hall</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>11</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td>
</td></tr><tr><td><p>Featherstone</p></td><td><p>29</p></td><td><p>27</p></td><td><p>55</p></td><td><p>68</p></td><td><p>65</p></td><td>
</td></tr><tr><td><p>Hewell</p></td><td><p>122</p></td><td><p>111</p></td><td><p>133</p></td><td><p>108</p></td><td><p>65</p></td><td>
</td></tr><tr><td><p>Oakwood</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>23</p></td><td><p>111</p></td><td>
</td></tr><tr><td><p>Shrewsbury</p></td><td><p>28</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td>
</td></tr><tr><td><p>Stafford</p></td><td><p>33</p></td><td><p>21</p></td><td><p>57</p></td><td><p>20</p></td><td><p>15</p></td><td>
</td></tr><tr><td><p>Stoke Heath</p></td><td><p>23</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>25</p></td><td><p>12</p></td><td>
</td></tr><tr><td><p>Swinfen Hall</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>9</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td>
</td></tr><tr><td><p>Werrington</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td>
</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><p>Key:</p><p>‘-‘ Establishment not operational</p><p>
</p><p>Notes on table:</p></td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td
colspan="7"><p>1. This table counts a seizure of each drug type as one seizure. As
more than one drug type can be found in each drug incident, the number of incidents
where drugs were seized may be lower than counts of seizures by drug type.</p></td></tr><tr><td
colspan="7"><p>2. Table provides management information from administrative systems.
This data has not been quality assured to standards required of official statistics.</p><p>
</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="7"> </td></tr></tbody></table><p>Prisons already use
a comprehensive range of robust searching and security measures to detect items of
contraband with intelligence-led searches, body searches, use of x-ray machines, metal
detectors and CCTV surveillance cameras, as well as body orifice scanners all helping
to tackle the use of mobile phones.</p><p>Increases in the above figures can be attributed
to a number of different factors including management changes, leading to new data
recording practices and introduction of new measures to combat drugs. An increase
in searches and intelligence-gathering, including increased detection of New Psychoactive
substances, has lead to higher detection rates.</p><p> </p><p>Recently, prison governors
received new guidance from the Ministry of Justice which sets out clearly for the
first time the measures available to them to deal with the growing problem of New
Psychoactive Substances (NPS /‘legal highs’). This reinforces the prison estate’s
zero tolerance approach to contraband.</p>
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