The Drug Treatment and Testing Order : early lessons : ninth report of session 2004-05 : report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence / Committee of Public Accounts.

  • Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Committee of Public Accounts.
Date:
2005
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Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: The Drug Treatment and Testing Order : early lessons : ninth report of session 2004-05 : report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence / Committee of Public Accounts. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Figure 1: Key elements of the National Standard for the management of the Drug Treatment and Testing Order Supervision and treatment Source: National Audit Office summary of National Probation Service, PC25/2001 National Standard for the Drug Treatment and Testing Order Assessment of suitability for the Order should usually be part of the pre-sentence report. Where assessment needs to be completed after presentation of the pre-sentence report to the Court this should be done within 5 working days. After an Order has been made by the Court, the offender's first appointment with the Probation Service shall be arranged to take place within one working day and with the treatment provider within two working days of the Order. Contact, including treatment, for the first 13 weeks of the Order shall usually be on five days a week for a total of twenty hours a week, with a minimum of 15 hours a week and after the first 13 weeks, this may be reduced to a minimum of three days a week, for 12 hours a week, with a minimum of 9 hours a week. Contact with the offender should include treatment, offence focused work and lifestyle programmes. For the first 13 weeks of the Order, the offender must be tested at least twice a week, thereafter at least once a week. If the offender admits in writing to having used drugs recently, testing shall not always be required. Positive drugs tests should be confirmed through laboratory testing unless the offender admits to drug use. : Probation areas are expected to propose to courts that Court reviews take place once a month for the first four months and quarterly thereafter. Supervising officers must provide a report to the Court on the offender’s progress, including the results of drug tests, the views of treatment providers, the offender's attendance record, and the supervisor's assessment of the offender's attitude and response to the Order. Breach action may be taken after once unacceptable failure and if not the offender must be given a formal warning. Breach action must be taken following the second unacceptable failure in any 12 month period. On the basis of a Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General,' we examined the National Probation Directorate and the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse on the impact of the Order, improving the delivery of the Order, and reducing the risk of relapse. We also visited the West London Drug Treatment and Testing Team, based in West Ealing, on 11 May 2004.