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answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered question first ministerially corrected answering member label attachment file name title previous answer version answering member constituency answering member printed answering member label attachment file name title
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91745

registered interest
date	12/09/2014
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Drugs: Misuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to bring forward legislative proposals to introduce new powers to close shops selling legal highs.
tabling member constituency	Taunton Deane
tabling member printed	Mr Jeremy Browne
uin	209220
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/10/2014 answer text <p>I refer to the Written Ministerial Statement of 12 December 2013, Official Report, column 58WS, in which I announced that the Coalition Government would conduct a review into new psychoactive substances led by a panel of experts.<br><br>I have now considered the expert panel’s report on the new psychoactive substances review including consideration of possible responses to the existence of &quot;head shops&quot;. The Government will respond to the expert panel’s report and its recommendations shortly.<br><br>The Coalition Government has already banned hundreds of new psychoactive substances. We have published guidance to support local authorities and continue to work closely with law enforcement to tackle this reckless trade.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Lewes answering member printed Norman Baker question first answered 16/10/2014 13:36:40 answering member 28 label Biography information for Norman Baker
tabling member	1575 label Biography information for Mr Jeremy Browne

91748

registered interest
date	12/09/2014
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Drugs: Misuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has any plans to introduce legislative proposals to criminalise the legal high known as gocaine.
tabling member constituency	Gosport
tabling member printed	Caroline Dinenage
uin	209170
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/10/2014 answer text <p>I refer to the Written Ministerial Statement of 12 December 2013, Official Report, column 58WS, in which I announced that the Coalition Government would conduct a review into new psychoactive substances led by a panel of experts. I have now considered the expert panel’s report on the review. The Government will respond to the expert panel’s report and its recommendations shortly.<br><br>The Coalition Government has already banned over three hundred and fifty new psychoactive substances. We work closely with law enforcement to tackle this reckless trade.<br><br>&quot;Gocaine&quot; is a brand name used for compounds advertised as new psychoactive substances. &quot;Gocaine&quot; samples analysed through the Home Office Forensic Early Warning System (FEWS) suggest the brand is usually associated with a mixture of compounds, including methiopropamine (MPA) and methylenedioxy-2-aminiondane (MDAI). <br><br>Neither of these substances is currently controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. However, we continue to update our drug controls under that Act in response to the availability and harms of new psychoactive substances. Such controls are informed by independent expert advice through a system of regular reviews by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) which monitors the situation in the UK, including MPA and MDAI.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Lewes answering member printed Norman Baker question first answered 16/10/2014 13:41:50 answering member 28 label Biography information for Norman Baker
tabling member	4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage

91194

registered interest
date	09/09/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Drugs: Misuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of offenders convicted of a single offence of possession of class C drugs received (a) a discharge, (b) a fine, (c) a community order, (d) a suspended prison sentence and (e) an immediate prison sentence in the most recent year for which figures are available.
tabling member constituency	Shipley
tabling member printed	Philip Davies
uin	208715
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/10/2014 answer text <p>Drug offending is serious in itself and drug abuse also underlies a huge volume of acquisitive and violent crime which can blight communities. The independent Sentencing Council issued a sentencing guideline on drug offences, effective from February 2012, which brought sentencing guidance together for the first time to help to ensure consistent and proportionate sentencing for all drug offences that come before courts.</p><p> </p><p>Simple cautions are a non-statutory disposal available to the police to dispose of any offence committed by an adult and designed for dealing with low level, mainly first time offending.</p><p> </p><p>The Ministry of Justice issues guidance on the process to be followed by the police when they are administering simple cautions for adult offenders. The latest guidance, issued in November 2013 following the Simple Cautions Review, states that the use of a simple caution for possession of class A drugs should only be given in exceptional cases following authorisation by a senior police officer. These will be cases where there were exceptional circumstances which would mean that it was not in the public interest to prosecute.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is legislating in the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill to place statutory restrictions on the use of cautions for certain serious offences.</p><p> </p><p>The number and proportion of offenders that were sentenced at all courts of a single offence of possession for class A, B and C drugs by sentence outcome in 2013, England and Wales can be viewed in the table below.</p><p> </p><p>The number of people cautioned for possession of class A, class B and class C drugs, in England and Wales, from 2009 to 2013 (latest data available) is accessible through the Ministry of Justice website and can be viewed through the following link:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/311319/8-outcomes-by-offence.xls" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/311319/8-outcomes-by-offence.xls</a>. Under the heading “Drug Offences” there are links to tables containing information relation to possession of class A, class B and class C drugs, including the number of cautions, from 2009-2013.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning grouped question UIN 208577 208710 208720 question first answered 14/10/2014 13:44:22 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning attachment 1 file name 208577, 208720, 208715, 208710 table.xls title Number of offenders sentenced
tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies

91197

registered interest
date	09/09/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Drugs: Misuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on what grounds offenders who received the maximum prison sentences for the possession of (a) class A and (b) class B drugs received those sentences in 2012.
tabling member constituency	Shipley
tabling member printed	Philip Davies
uin	208719
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/10/2014 answer text <p>Drug offending is serious in itself and drug abuse also underlies a huge volume of acquisitive and violent crime which can blight communities. Parliament sets the maximum penalty for an offence to deal with the worst possible case. Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for our independent courts, which must follow sentencing guidelines issued by the independent Sentencing Council. The guidelines provide a non-exhaustive list of factors to be taken into consideration and the court may depart from the guidelines in a particular case where it considers that it is in the interest of justice to do so.</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning question first answered 14/10/2014 09:33:45 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies

91198

registered interest
date	09/09/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Drugs: Misuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of offenders convicted of a single offence of possession of class B drugs received (a) a discharge, (b) a fine, (c) a community order, (d) a suspended prison sentence and (e) an immediate prison sentence in the most recent year for which figures are available.
tabling member constituency	Shipley
tabling member printed	Philip Davies
uin	208720
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/10/2014 answer text <p>Drug offending is serious in itself and drug abuse also underlies a huge volume of acquisitive and violent crime which can blight communities. The independent Sentencing Council issued a sentencing guideline on drug offences, effective from February 2012, which brought sentencing guidance together for the first time to help to ensure consistent and proportionate sentencing for all drug offences that come before courts.</p><p> </p><p>Simple cautions are a non-statutory disposal available to the police to dispose of any offence committed by an adult and designed for dealing with low level, mainly first time offending.</p><p> </p><p>The Ministry of Justice issues guidance on the process to be followed by the police when they are administering simple cautions for adult offenders. The latest guidance, issued in November 2013 following the Simple Cautions Review, states that the use of a simple caution for possession of class A drugs should only be given in exceptional cases following authorisation by a senior police officer. These will be cases where there were exceptional circumstances which would mean that it was not in the public interest to prosecute.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is legislating in the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill to place statutory restrictions on the use of cautions for certain serious offences.</p><p> </p><p>The number and proportion of offenders that were sentenced at all courts of a single offence of possession for class A, B and C drugs by sentence outcome in 2013, England and Wales can be viewed in the table below.</p><p> </p><p>The number of people cautioned for possession of class A, class B and class C drugs, in England and Wales, from 2009 to 2013 (latest data available) is accessible through the Ministry of Justice website and can be viewed through the following link:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/311319/8-outcomes-by-offence.xls" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/311319/8-outcomes-by-offence.xls</a>. Under the heading “Drug Offences” there are links to tables containing information relation to possession of class A, class B and class C drugs, including the number of cautions, from 2009-2013.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning grouped question UIN 208577 208710 208715 question first answered 14/10/2014 13:44:22 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning attachment 1 file name 208577, 208720, 208715, 208710 table.xls title Number of offenders sentenced
tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies

91200

registered interest
date	09/09/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Drugs: Misuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many previous convictions at the time of sentence each offender sentenced to immediate custody for a single offence of possession of (a) class A, (b) class B and (c) class C drugs had in the most recent year for which figures are available.
tabling member constituency	Shipley
tabling member printed	Philip Davies
uin	208713
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/11/2014 answer text <p>Drug offending is serious in itself and drug abuse also underlies a huge volume of acquisitive and violent crime which can blight communities. Previous convictions, where they are recent and relevant, must be treated as an aggravating factor by the courts and will make the sentence more severe. The independent Sentencing Council issued a sentencing guideline on drug offences, effective from February 2012, which brought sentencing guidance together for the first time to help to ensure consistent and proportionate sentencing for all drug offences that come before courts.</p><p> </p><p>The table below shows the number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody for the possession of (a) class A, (b) class B and (c) class C drugs offence in England and Wales, for the 12 months ending March 2014, by the number of previous convictions.</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning question first answered 18/11/2014 17:57:27 question first ministerially corrected 17/02/2015 10:01:49 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning attachment 1 file name 208713 - Number of previous convictions for A-C.xls title Immediate custody for drug offences previous answer version 28630 answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning attachment 1 file name 208713 table.xls title Immediate custody for drug offences
tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies

91203

registered interest
date	09/09/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Drugs: Misuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people received a caution for the possession of (a) class A, (b) class B and (c) class C drugs in the most recent year for which figures are available.
tabling member constituency	Shipley
tabling member printed	Philip Davies
uin	208710
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/10/2014 answer text <p>Drug offending is serious in itself and drug abuse also underlies a huge volume of acquisitive and violent crime which can blight communities. The independent Sentencing Council issued a sentencing guideline on drug offences, effective from February 2012, which brought sentencing guidance together for the first time to help to ensure consistent and proportionate sentencing for all drug offences that come before courts.</p><p> </p><p>Simple cautions are a non-statutory disposal available to the police to dispose of any offence committed by an adult and designed for dealing with low level, mainly first time offending.</p><p> </p><p>The Ministry of Justice issues guidance on the process to be followed by the police when they are administering simple cautions for adult offenders. The latest guidance, issued in November 2013 following the Simple Cautions Review, states that the use of a simple caution for possession of class A drugs should only be given in exceptional cases following authorisation by a senior police officer. These will be cases where there were exceptional circumstances which would mean that it was not in the public interest to prosecute.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is legislating in the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill to place statutory restrictions on the use of cautions for certain serious offences.</p><p> </p><p>The number and proportion of offenders that were sentenced at all courts of a single offence of possession for class A, B and C drugs by sentence outcome in 2013, England and Wales can be viewed in the table below.</p><p> </p><p>The number of people cautioned for possession of class A, class B and class C drugs, in England and Wales, from 2009 to 2013 (latest data available) is accessible through the Ministry of Justice website and can be viewed through the following link:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/311319/8-outcomes-by-offence.xls" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/311319/8-outcomes-by-offence.xls</a>. Under the heading “Drug Offences” there are links to tables containing information relation to possession of class A, class B and class C drugs, including the number of cautions, from 2009-2013.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning grouped question UIN 208577 208715 208720 question first answered 14/10/2014 13:44:22 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning attachment 1 file name 208577, 208720, 208715, 208710 table.xls title Number of offenders sentenced
tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies

91084

registered interest
date	08/09/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Drugs: Misuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of offenders convicted of a single offence of possession of class A drugs received (a) a discharge, (b) a fine, (c) a community order, (d) a suspended prison sentence and (e) an immediate prison sentence in the most recent year for which figures are available.
tabling member constituency	Shipley
tabling member printed	Philip Davies
uin	208577
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/10/2014 answer text <p>Drug offending is serious in itself and drug abuse also underlies a huge volume of acquisitive and violent crime which can blight communities. The independent Sentencing Council issued a sentencing guideline on drug offences, effective from February 2012, which brought sentencing guidance together for the first time to help to ensure consistent and proportionate sentencing for all drug offences that come before courts.</p><p> </p><p>Simple cautions are a non-statutory disposal available to the police to dispose of any offence committed by an adult and designed for dealing with low level, mainly first time offending.</p><p> </p><p>The Ministry of Justice issues guidance on the process to be followed by the police when they are administering simple cautions for adult offenders. The latest guidance, issued in November 2013 following the Simple Cautions Review, states that the use of a simple caution for possession of class A drugs should only be given in exceptional cases following authorisation by a senior police officer. These will be cases where there were exceptional circumstances which would mean that it was not in the public interest to prosecute.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is legislating in the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill to place statutory restrictions on the use of cautions for certain serious offences.</p><p> </p><p>The number and proportion of offenders that were sentenced at all courts of a single offence of possession for class A, B and C drugs by sentence outcome in 2013, England and Wales can be viewed in the table below.</p><p> </p><p>The number of people cautioned for possession of class A, class B and class C drugs, in England and Wales, from 2009 to 2013 (latest data available) is accessible through the Ministry of Justice website and can be viewed through the following link:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/311319/8-outcomes-by-offence.xls" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/311319/8-outcomes-by-offence.xls</a>. Under the heading “Drug Offences” there are links to tables containing information relation to possession of class A, class B and class C drugs, including the number of cautions, from 2009-2013.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning grouped question UIN 208710 208715 208720 question first answered 14/10/2014 13:44:22 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning attachment 1 file name 208577, 208720, 208715, 208710 table.xls title Number of offenders sentenced
tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies

62667

registered interest
date	18/06/2014
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
hansard heading	Drugs: Misuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of take-home naloxone in reducing the number of opiate-related deaths across the UK in conjunction with the training and educational programmes within the prison services.
tabling member constituency	Ealing, Southall
tabling member printed	Mr Virendra Sharma
uin	201224
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/06/2014 answer text <p>From July 2009 to February 2010, the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (now part of Public Health England (PHE)) ran a trial at 16 pilot sites around England in which carers and relations of opiate misusers were trained to respond to overdoses and use the antidote naloxone and basic life support techniques.</p><p> </p><p>A report[1] on the trial was published in 2011, and it was clear that naloxone appeared to help save lives. The report said that there were 18 overdoses where carers used naloxone and two where they applied basic life support. All the drug users survived the overdose. The trial included people who were about to leave prisons, and the report covers some of the issues around this.</p><p> </p><p>There is currently a trial running on the effectiveness of giving prisoners naloxone when they leave prison, which has yet to report.</p><p> </p><p>Some prisons currently supply prisons with take-home naloxone as part of their post-release support. PHE does not hold the data centrally.</p><p> </p><p>The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs has recommended that naloxone be made more widely available, and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has undertaken a consultation with the field on implementing this recommendation. There will be no further policy announcements on naloxone until the report on this consultation is published.</p><br /><p>[1] Full report available at http://www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/naloxonereport2011.pdf</p> answering member constituency Battersea answering member printed Jane Ellison question first answered 25/06/2014 11:55:09 answering member 3918 label Biography information for Jane Ellison
tabling member	1604 label Biography information for Mr Virendra Sharma

62669

registered interest
date	18/06/2014
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
hansard heading	Drugs: Misuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the incidence of opiate-related overdoses among people recently released from prison.
tabling member constituency	Ealing, Southall
tabling member printed	Mr Virendra Sharma
uin	201223
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/06/2014 answer text <p>People who have recently been released from prison are at a greater risk of overdose. A 2005 report on drug-related mortality among newly released offenders (1998-2000) showed that male prisoners in the study were about 29 times more likely to die than males in the general population.</p><p> </p><p>The Department of Health and Ministry of Justice have funded a joint initiative to improve the “through the gate” provision for prisoners who are dependent on drugs and alcohol. Ten prisons in the North West are currently piloting a range of innovative interventions to provide more intensive support and supervision for people leaving custody which include the use of peer mentors, recovery housing services and take-home naloxone as they return to the community.</p><p> </p><p>Public Health England has also published a checklist to support local authorities with commissioning services and interventions that help to prevent overdose, as part of a wider treatment and harm reduction system.</p><p> </p><p>The Integrated Drug Treatment System (IDTS) programme, implemented in prisons between 2006 and 2010, sought to improve the standard and quality of drug treatment in prisons. One of the key drivers for this programme was the need to reduce drug-related deaths among people who had been recently released from prison.</p><p> </p><p>Through IDTS, prisoners could get access to evidence-based opioid substitution treatment in prison, which they could continue in the community after release. The extent in which this was successful in reducing drug-related overdose deaths will be one of the themes in the IDTS evaluation, which will be published next year.</p><p> </p><p>The principles of IDTS continue to be adopted by local partners responsible for commissioning health services.</p> answering member constituency Battersea answering member printed Jane Ellison question first answered 25/06/2014 11:52:07 answering member 3918 label Biography information for Jane Ellison
tabling member	1604 label Biography information for Mr Virendra Sharma