THE SOUTH Basildon and East Thurrock MP Stephen Metcalfe, rose on the floor of the House of Commons to ask a question on prisoners and skills development.
Mr Metcalfe said: “Getting prisoners with substance abuse issues into meaningful skills training first requires getting them off drugs. Can my right hon. Friend tell the House what he is doing to help prisoners and to tackle drugs in prisons?
The Minister of State for Justice, Damian Hinds replied: “My hon. Friend is quite right; that is a crucial part of the jigsaw, together with maintaining family ties. In a major new initiative, we are creating up to 18 new drug recovery wings so that prisoners can focus on achieving abstinence not only from illicit drugs, but from prescribed substitutes.
“We are also increasing the number of incentivised substance-free living units and have been investing strongly in prison security to stop drugs getting in in the first place.
The full debate can be found here.
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2023-03-28a.810.4&s=speaker%3A24749#g811.2
