The Bishop of Gloucester spoke in a debate on the second reading of the Prisons (Substance Testing) Bill on 16th April 2021, welcoming the bill and stressing the need for rehabilitation to be at the centre of the prison system:
The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, I add my condolences to those already expressed regarding the sad death of Dame Cheryl Gillan. I echo others in affirming that it is her commitment to reform that means that we are discussing these issues today.
I declare my interest, as stated in the register, as Anglican bishop for prisons in England and Wales. It is a great privilege for me to visit a variety of establishments. In conversations with prisoners, governors and chaplains, you get a sense of those issues that, if tackled, could have a real impact. Drug use within prisons is one of those issues.
In a visit to a prison just two weeks ago, I heard about psychoactive substances being smuggled in on letters and the back of postage stamps. This makes it incredibly hard to prevent, and attempts to do so take up vital time and resource which need to be used more appropriately elsewhere. Rehabilitation must be key in our prison system—prisons should be places where the root causes of offending can begin to be addressed. I will not deviate at this point.
As a Christian, I believe in hope and the possibility of change, and the last thing that prisoners should have access to is a drug to which they are already addicted or that is a new addictive substance. They should also not be tempted by a trade in these substances. Furthermore, staff and volunteers in prisons should be protected from the effect of these substances, which is not the case at present.
I therefore support the Bill and support a testing regime, delivered appropriately, which would be responsive to new drugs as they emerge. Of course, all this needs to be set within a wider picture of rehabilitation and a holistic approach to all issues and factors impacting the lives of those sentenced. Further comment on that can wait for a different Bill, which I hope will come to us from the other place in the not too distant future. For now, I welcome the Bill and its potential for good and not harm.
Extracts from the speeches that followed:
Lord Thomas of Gresford (LD) [V]: I must make it clear that, like the noble Lord, Lord Farmer, I am very concerned about the existence of substances circulating in prisons. I join with the noble Baroness, Lady Pidding, in condemning the scourge of drugs in prison. A prisoner from Blaenau Ffestiniog died from smoking spice in Berwyn prison in March 2018; I have spoken of this before—it is Britain’s largest prison and the second largest in Europe. The coroner said that he was concerned about the continuing accessibility of drugs to inmates at that institution and that there was a sense of dread in his office over the number of deaths they would have to deal with. There is recent anecdotal evidence that all sorts of substances circulate through there. Visitors to the prison have been convicted: there was one case in November 2018 for bringing in a book soaked in spice, and another in October 2020 for bringing in letters similarly treated—a practice to which the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Gloucester has referred. Every effort should be made to prevent the smuggling of drugs and other substances into prisons.
However, there is a solution in hand. A trial scheme was announced in February, to be operated in 12 prisons in north-east England, Yorkshire and Humberside, whose findings will help the Prison Service to target anti-drugs measures. The monitoring of wastewater for traces of drugs has been pioneered in Australia. Sewage monitoring is regularly carried out in Britain to monitor the spread of viruses, including Covid-19. I am sure that the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, would approve of this approach. The Prisons Minister, Lucy Frazer QC, told the Daily Telegraph in February:
“Right across the estate, we’re increasingly using technology to help rehabilitate offenders and to prevent drugs and phones from entering prisons. This pilot will help monitor drug prevalence in prisons, detect new and emerging psychoactive substances and ultimately contribute to reducing crime behind bars.”
Perhaps the Minister can tell us how this trial is proceeding. Clearly, it is intended to answer the main purpose of this Bill—prevalence testing—without any breach of Article 8.
Lord Wolfson of Tredegar (Con, MoJ): One has only to compare the speech of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Morris of Aberavon, who explained the position some years ago, when drugs were virtually unknown in prison, with the evidence provided by the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Gloucester, who explained the ingenious ways in which criminals now get drugs into prisons. If I may break into Latin in the court of Parliament, because I am not allowed to any more in the courts of justice—tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis. Your Lordships will need no translation.
The Bill also puts prevalence testing on a firm statutory footing. As my noble friend Lady Pidding explained, prevalence testing equips the Prison Service with better information to identify new and emerging drug trends, so that it can quickly react to changes in drug use. So this is a distinct Bill with a distinct purpose.
Drug misuse in prison is not only harmful but disruptive, both to the prison and its staff. It prevents hard-working staff in prisons delivering safe, meaningful and rehabilitative regimes. As my noble friend Lord Cormack reminded us, it is almost impossible to have proper rehabilitation if drugs are flowing through the prison. For too long, our interventions have been restricted by limitations in our drug-testing capabilities. That is why the Government support the measures in the Bill to tackle drugs in prisons and young offender institutions.
The Church of England in Parliament 
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