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Mr. Norman
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the adequacy of provision in prisons of sniffer dogs for the purpose of preventing drug use. [98521]
Hilary Benn
The availability of specialist drug dogs within the Prison Service has increased significantly following investment from the Comprehensive Spending Review 1997 and Spending Review 2000. All prisons now have access to both active and passive drug dogs. There are currently 261 active drug dogs and 212 passive drug dogs deployed across the Prison Service.