Welfare Reform Bill

Part of the debate – in a Public Bill Committee at 11:54 am on 10 February 2009.

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Photo of Peter Lilley Peter Lilley Conservative, Hitchin and Harpenden 11:54, 10 February 2009

I apologise for slipping out, and I hope that my question was not asked in my absence.

When you argued your case and raised doubts about the element of compulsion and sanction in the Bill regarding drug users taking treatment, I was struck by the fact that you essentially based it on speculation about adverse outcomes, just as the Government and most of my constituents probably base their case on speculation about users and benefits. Are there any studies from countries such as Sweden that have used a more coercive approach that suggest that there is a beneficial effect when people are required to take treatment—the element of requiring people to take treatment is now built into the criminal justice system? Clearly, as far as my constituents are concerned, if the system is going to work, they have no compunction about requiring people to take treatment.