Policy background
- Approved Premises exist to ensure that bailees and offenders with the highest risk and most complex needs receive additional residential supervision in the community and additional rehabilitative support following release from custody. As part of ensuring Approved Premises are drug-free and safe, residents are presently (prior to the implementation of this Act) drug tested if requested by staff. Such drug testing is provided for in the "house rules" of the Approved Premises which each resident is required to accept as a condition of their residence. Those house rules are made in accordance with Regulation 6 of the Offender Management Act 2007 (Approved Premises) Regulations 2014 (the 2014 Regulations).
Framework for testing illicit substances
- While that provides a basis for drug testing, it does not set out a comprehensive statutory framework for the testing of illicit substances, the scope of substances which may be tested or the types of samples that may be taken. The Act provides the statutory framework to allow Approved Premises and HMPPS to:
- respond effectively and flexibly to changing patterns of drug misuse;
- improve identification of residents misusing substances to enable robust and appropriate referrals into treatment together with the development of appropriate targeted care planning;
- better identify elevating or decreasing risk of serious harm to the public based on a resident’s drug misuse; and
- support the development of a comprehensive drug strategy and build a body of evidence on drug misuse within the resident cohort.
Changes to patterns of drug misuse
- Patterns of drug misuse in both custody and the community are changing. These changes reflect new products on the drug market including increased prevalence of psychoactive substances, as well as increased levels of prescription drugs being misused to create sometimes lethal levels of toxicity. Drug testing technology has developed significantly in recent years and is now becoming more widely available and affordable. It is now possible to test simultaneously for a wide range of drugs. The changes to drug testing in this Act build upon the power of new technology to enable an approach for identifying and responding to drug misuse trends within the custodial and community environment, thereby facilitating continuity of support and intervention.
- Equipping Approved Premises with clear powers to test residents for a wider range of drugs, including prescription medicines, improves the ability to identify the misuse of substances. For those for whom escalating drug-misuse is directly linked to their offending and risk of harm to the public, improved identification of a range of substances enables Approved Premises to take appropriate action. This allows for the identification of those who need support to access appropriate community treatment services and facilitate the provision of more effective continuity in care at an individual level.
Psychoactive substances and prescription medicines
- In recent years, psychoactive substances have become much more prevalent within the illicit economy in Approved Premises. Alongside psychoactive substances, prescription medicines are also abused by some residents and can play a similar role in the illicit economy. Some residents may also ‘bully’ other residents for those prescription medicines they have been genuinely prescribed for medical reasons.
