New ‘Problem-Solving Courts’ to combat drug and alcohol-fuelled crime

The first three ‘Problem-Solving Courts’ (PSCs) are being piloted as part of the Government’s £900 million Drug Strategy, based on evidence that this approach will most effectively turn such offenders away from crime and protect the public.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said the new community sentencing will include “intense supervision and testing” to support rehabilitation with strong sanctions, including jail time, if offenders transgress.

It added: “Under unique orders, which can be issued by the PSCs, offenders will see the same judge at least once a month, have intense support and supervision from the Probation Service, and get wraparound services tailored to their individual needs – such as from substance misuse and recovery agencies, housing support and educational services.

“They will also get treatment and undertake frequent, random drug testing where appropriate. Offenders will be offered the full range of treatment interventions to help them achieve abstinence.”

The £8.25-million pilot will see two PSCs launched at Liverpool and Teesside Crown Courts, while a further one at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court will focus on female offenders with complex needs, including substance misuse.

A further two courts are still under consideration following a government commitment in the Sentencing White Paper to pilot up to five PSCs.

Deputy Prime Minister, Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor, Dominic Raab MP said: “Getting criminal offenders sustainably off drugs is the gateway to getting them into work and a law-abiding future.

“Only once offenders are drug-free can they grasp the opportunities of skills training and employment and turn their backs on crime for good.

“So these innovative courts will help us grasp the nettle of drug addiction, and make our streets safer.”

Judges and magistrates sitting in the PSCs will use incentives such as relaxing conditions to recognise good progress, as well as sanctions, such as increased drug testing and court reviews, when behaviour fails to meet agreed standards.

They can also jail offenders for failure to stick to their sentence by imprisoning them for up to 28 days, up to a maximum of three times.

Government figures show more people die every year as a result of drug misuse than from all knife crime and road traffic accidents combined.

The MoJ said the Teesside and Merseyside pilots were in areas of “high levels of need”.

In 2020, the North East had the highest rate of deaths relating to drug misuse across England and Wales (104.6 deaths per million people) compared with the national rate of 52.3 deaths per million people, while the rate of deaths relating to drug misuse in the North West is 74.2 per million.

A 2019 study by the Prison Reform Trust showed that rates of immediate custody per 100,000 women in the West Midlands (36 per 100,000) were higher than the overall rate for England and Wales.

A PSC has already been trialled in Greater Manchester focused on female offenders, and 14 Family Drug and Alcohol Courts (FDACs), alternative family court for care proceedings, have achieved success at reducing substance misuse.

A study by Lancaster University found:

• 46 per cent of FDAC mothers were no longer misusing substances by the end of proceedings, compared with 30 per cent of comparison mothers; and
• 37 per cent of FDAC families were reunited or continued to live together compared with 25 per cent of comparison families.