AID FOR DRUGS WAR

An extra UKP188m is to be made available for the much-trumpeted
strategy of educating today's schoolchildren against becoming the next
generation of drug users.

The extra money, which ministers said represented a 25 per cent
increase in spending on anti-drugs measures, will be used to educate
children as young as five on the dangers of drugs. Ann Taylor, Leader
of the House of Commons, said the money would enable the Government to
"invest in the prevention of drugs problems rather than simply react
to them".

Keith Hellawell, the UK anti-drugs co-ordinator, described the
allocation as "a substantial rise in funding" and promised that some
of the resources would go to drug rehabilitation services, which have
warned they are facing a cash crisis.

The added funding will also be used to pay for the new drug treatment
testing orders which the Home Office is introducing to give courts an
alternative to custodial sentences.

The total Home Office spend has been increased by UKP3bn, spread over
three years.

Jack Straw, the Home Secretary, promised quicker and more efficient
youth justice and more resources dedicated to helping victims of crime
and improving race relations.

But the police have been given a below-inflation increase, with the
threat of having their budgets cut in the future if they fail to make
efficiency savings.

The tough package gives the 43 forces in England and Wales a 2.7 per
cent rise next year, followed by increases of 2.8 per cent and 4 per
cent in the following years. This will see the total spending rise
from about UKP7.1bn next year to UKP7.6bn in the year to April 2002.
However, some of the money will be withheld after 2000 if forces fail
to make 2 per cent efficiency savings every year.

Checked-by: "Rolf Ernst"