Press Release - The Drug Treatment and Testing Order: early
lessons
26 March 2004
The Drug Treatment and Testing Order can be a successful
community sentence for some drug misusing offenders who would
otherwise have been considered for a prison sentence, according to
a report to Parliament today by the National Audit Office. However,
only 28 per cent of Orders terminated in 2003 were completed in
full or were terminated early for good progress, reflecting the
challenges faced by local services in keeping chaotic drug misusers
on an intensive and highly structured programme.
The Order can help offenders, including some of those who do not
complete the Programme, reduce the level and frequency of their
drug misuse. However, in three pilot areas 80 per cent of offenders
on the Order had been reconvicted within two years. For those who
had completed the Order the reconviction rate was lower at 53 per
cent.
Probation areas face difficulties in assessing an offender’s
likely commitment and ability to comply with an Order. This chaotic
and seriously addicted group of offenders’ commitment to the Order
can fluctuate from day to day. Some areas were working to improve
retention on the Order, for example by running special groups for
offenders new to the Order to raise their motivation. Probation
areas seek to help offenders find suitable accommodation, but
offenders considered that difficulty in finding accommodation away
from their drug using peer group was a key problem.
Drug misusers placed on the Order do not necessarily reflect the
make up of the wider drug using population, with younger people
aged 18-21 and those with mental health problems being less likely
to be found suitable for the Order. Some probation and drug
treatment staff questioned the motivation of younger people to stay
on the Order and also the suitability of the programmes for this
group but, if successful, the impact on crime levels of reducing an
offender’s habit at an early stage of a criminal career and the
impact on the individual’s health could be greater. The
introduction of a low intensity version of the Order from 2004-05
should help widen potential participation to those who have a less
serious pattern of drug misuse and offending.
The report recommends more work to assess the effectiveness of
local initiatives to build and sustain offender motivation for the
Order; collection of data on age, sex and ethnicity of drug
misusers on the Order to inform performance review, Order content
and future needs; the need for effective arrangements for misusers
coming off the Order to continue treatment and support if
necessary; and improvements to the monitoring of outcomes achieved,
in particular the reductions in drug misuse achieved and
reconviction rates.
Head of the National Audit Office, Sir John Bourn said
today:
"Probation areas made rapid progress in establishing the
Drug Treatment and Testing Order, meeting the target for
commencements by April 2003. The Order can help some offenders turn
their lives around and reduce their use of drugs. However, the high
drop out rate and evidence from pilots of the Order of a high rate
of reconviction need to be addressed.
"The Home Office should now shift its emphasis from
achieving commencements towards improving the effectiveness of the
Order in delivering positive outcomes. More needs to be done to
build and sustain the motivation of those on the Order to address
their problems and to recognise that the chaotic lives of many such
users mean support and treatment may be needed beyond the period of
the sentence."
Notes for Editors
- The Drug Treatment and Testing Order was introduced by the
Crime and Disorder Act 1998. It involves intensive supervision of
offenders, drug treatment, regular drug testing and review of
progress on the Order in review Courts. The National Standard
governing its operation requires contact initially of 15 to 20
hours a week (12 hours a week in the new lower intensity version of
the Order) and two drug tests a week.
- Following the implementation of the Criminal Justice Act 2003
the Drug Treatment and Testing Order will be replaced by the
similar drug rehabilitation requirement, one sentencing option
under the new Community Order. It will be possible for judges and
magistrates to combine the drug rehabilitation requirement with one
or more of the other options available such as unpaid work or
curfews. The Act also introduces other new sentences such as
"Custody Plus" and "Custody Minus".
- "The impact of Drug Treatment and Testing Order on offending:
two-year reconviction results" Home Office Research Findings 184,
2003.
- In January 2004 in "Reducing crime – changing lives" the
Government’s response to the Carter Report ("Managing Offenders,
Reducing Crime"), the Government announced that from June 2004 the
new National Offender Management Service will take over
responsibility from the National Probation Directorate for managing
offenders’ sentences in the community and from the Prison Service
for those in custody.
- Press notices and reports are available from the date of
publication on the NAO website,
which is now at www.nao.org.uk. Hard copies can be obtained from
The Stationery Office
on 0845 702 3474.
- The Comptroller and Auditor General, Sir John Bourn, is the
head of the National Audit Office which employs some 800 staff. He
and the NAO are totally independent of Government. He certifies the
accounts of all Government departments and a wide range of other
public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to
Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which
departments and other bodies have used their resources.
Press Notice 26/04
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