Much more needs to be done, says the Home Office

Not enough time was allowed for new orders to be introduced, according to the chief inspector of probation, Professor Rod Morgan.

Regular drug testing, treatment and supervision for criminals addicted to Class A drugs - like heroin - have been outlined in the Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTOs) since October 2000.

Offenders should be tested for drugs twice a week for the first 13 weeks of the order.

We are dealing with an extremely difficult, chaotic group of offenders who are long-term addicts Harry Fletcher Probation union Napo

But less than a quarter of cases studied for the report achieved this target.

Mr Morgan said performance was "extremely uneven" across the UK although there had been some progress by probation officers.

Poor record

Ministers have admitted 46% of DTTOs have failed.

And just 12% have been completed successfully, with the rest ongoing.

"It is a case of the Probation Service having come a long way in a short time, but now needing to ensure steady high quality delivery across the country," said Mr Morgan.

A total of 238 cases from eight probation areas showed "a disappointing level of achievement of the DTTO national standard", according to the report.

Better monitoring - particularly of women and ethnic minority offenders - and systems to identify the cost of the orders, were recommended.

Home Office minister Hilary Benn said the orders worked although he accepted much more needed to be done.

"They can get offenders off drugs, away from a life of crime and in turn relieve communities of the blight drugs cause," he said.

Assistant general secretary of the probation union Napo, Harry Fletcher, said: "We are dealing with an extremely difficult, chaotic group of offenders who are long-term addicts who steal most days to feed their habits."

He believes the final completion rate will be 30%.

"If it gets 3,000 people off drugs that's 20,000 fewer crimes a week or a million fewer in a year," he said.

Lesley King-Lewis, chief executive of Action on Addiction, said she was not surprised that the results of the scheme were mixed, or that the probation service had failed to reach its targets.

"Work carried out by our researcher showed huge inconsistencies in the strategies for implementation, in the standard of care employed and in the structuring and resourcing of DTTO teams.

"This is compounded by the inconsistencies in the type and calibre of treatment provided and variations in the relationships with magistrates and judges.

"However, problems with implementation should not be confused with failures of principle, and the positive changes found are sufficiently encouraging to suggest that DTTO's, when adequately resourced and effectively integrated, may have a significant role to play."