[3] In their 2010 Drug Strategy, the Conservative / Liberal Democrat coalition state their continued intention to support DIP.
[8] Some evidence has been taken to suggest that DIP has been effective in achieving its aims, though a serious shortfall in methodologically rigorous evaluations makes such claims problematic.
Nonetheless, in his foreword to the 2008 Drug Strategy the Home Secretary claimed that DIP coercion and case management have 'contributed to a fall in recorded acquisitive crime of around 20 per cent'.
[9] A short while later, DIP Key Messages made rather grander claims: 'since 2003, acquisitive crime (which is strongly associated with class A substance misuse) has fallen by 32 per cent in England and Wales.
Individuals who tested positive were then compelled to undergo a two-part "Required Assessment" with a drug worker from their local DIP.
Although the Drugs Act 2005 had introduced a contingency for a "Follow-up Required Assessment" process, this measure was not implemented until March 2007.
This effectively obliged courts to implement a bail condition compelling such persons to attend their local DIP.
There are currently 10,000 offenders in the UK who are involved in the PPO scheme, a significant proportion of whom have drug dependency issues.