To ask the Secretary of State for Health which trigger offences lead to drug testing as part of his Department's drug intervention programme; and whether he plans to include further offences within that definition. (240589)

I have been asked to reply.

The trigger offences are set out in Schedule 6 to the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000. These are the offences which have been shown to have the clearest link with drug misuse, particularly the misuse of heroin and cocaine/crack and are listed.

Trigger offences with effect from 1 August

1. Offences under the following provisions of the Theft Act 1968 are trigger offences:

section 1 (theft)

section 8 (robbery)

section 9 (burglary)

section 10 (aggravated burglary)

section 12 (taking motor vehicle or other conveyance without authority)

section 12A (aggravated vehicle-taking)

section 22 (handling stolen goods)¹

section 25 (going equipped for stealing, etc.)

2. Offences under the following provisions of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 are trigger offences if committed in respect of a specified Class A drug:

section 4 (restriction on production and supply of controlled drugs)

section 5(2) (possession of controlled drug)

section 5(3) (possession of controlled drug with intent to supply)

3. Offences under the following provisions of the Fraud Act 2006 are trigger offences²

section 1 (fraud)

section 6 (possession etc. of articles for use in frauds)

section 7 (making or supplying articles for use in frauds)

3A. An offence under section 1(1) of the Criminal Attempts Act 1981 is a trigger offence, if committed in respect of an offence under

(a) any of the following provisions of the Theft Act 1968¹

section 1 (theft)

section 8 (robbery)

section 9 (burglary)

section 22 (handling stolen goods, or

(b) section 1 of the Fraud Act 2006 (fraud)³

4. Offences under the following provisions of the Vagrancy Act 1824 are trigger offences¹

section 3 (begging)

section 4 (persistent begging)

¹ Offences added to the trigger offences in Schedule 6 to the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 by The Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 (Amendment) Order 2004, (S.I. 2004/1892), which came into force on 27 July 2004.

² Offences added by the Fraud Act 2006, which came into force on 15 January 2007

³ Offence added by the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 (Amendment) Order 2007 which came into force on 1 August 2007

Drug testing of people who have been arrested or charged with a trigger offence is conducted in authorised police stations across England and Wales as part of the Drug Interventions Programme (DIP).

Those arrested /charged with non-trigger offences may also be tested, where a police officer of at least Inspector rank has reasonable grounds to suspect that misuse of any specified Class A drug caused or contributed to the offence and authorises the taking of a sample.

DIP regularly reviews the list of trigger offences.