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1698100

registered interest
date	22/03/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Spiking
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what training is provided to police officers on the impact of the spiking of drinks on victims of that crime.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	20080
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2024 answer text <p>Each Police force has a dedicated spiking lead who all meet regularly to share learning. At present, forces design and deliver their own spiking training and this is informed by NPCC and Home Office policies.</p><p>Some forces, including Cumbria Police and the Metropolitan Police Service, are in the process of reviewing their spiking training.</p> answering member constituency Newbury answering member printed Laura Farris question first answered 03/04/2024 08:52:00 answering member 4826 label Biography information for Laura Farris
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1670359

registered interest
date	15/11/2023
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Spiking
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 11 September 2023 to Question 198094 on Spiking, on what date he plans to publish the statutory report on spiking.
tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull North
tabling member printed	Dame Diana Johnson
uin	2113
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/11/2023 answer text <p>The Government will produce and publish a report on the prevalence and nature of spiking and the action that we are taking to tackle it.</p><p>The report is yet to be laid before Parliament, but we aim to do so by the end of the year. I will of course write to the Home Affairs Select Committee when I am able to confirm a specific date.</p> answering member constituency Newbury answering member printed Laura Farris question first answered 20/11/2023 17:25:29 answering member 4826 label Biography information for Laura Farris
tabling member	1533 label Biography information for Dame Diana Johnson

1658811

registered interest
date	06/09/2023
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Spiking
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish her Department's statutory report on spiking.
tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull North
tabling member printed	Dame Diana Johnson
uin	198094
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/09/2023 answer text <p><strong><em> </em></strong>The Government is committed to producing and publishing a report on the prevalence and nature of spiking and the action that we are and will take to tackle it.</p><p>The report is yet to be laid before Parliament, but we aim to do so as soon as practical, later this Autumn.</p> answering member constituency Derbyshire Dales answering member printed Miss Sarah Dines question first answered 11/09/2023 16:23:41 answering member 4816 label Biography information for Miss Sarah Dines
tabling member	1533 label Biography information for Dame Diana Johnson

1611127

registered interest
date	17/04/2023
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Spiking
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help tackle the spiking of people in social places in the UK.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	180756
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2023 answer text <p>The Home Office is leading the cross-government approach to understanding and tackling spiking in England and Wales. In 2021, the then Home Secretary asked the National Police Chief's Council to urgently review and coordinate the national policing response to spiking. Since then:</p><p> </p><ul><li>Spiking has been incorporated into the Government's communications campaign to tackle violence against women and girls, known as 'ENOUGH'. This includes providing important information about the crime on the campaign website and signposting victims to support services.</li><li>We have worked closely with the Festivals and Outdoor Events sector to ensure the safety of the public at summer events, ensuring that sufficient protocols, training, communications, and guidance was in place for event organisers, the police, security personnel and audiences.</li><li>Government have supported Universities UK to provide guidance to universities on spiking published ahead of the Autumn 2022 term and the ‘freshers’ period. We provided further communications on spiking to local authorities and supported NPCC targeted communications.</li><li>The Police have produced a forensic strategy and have worked with the forensic provider Eurofins to develop an accredited, rapid testing capability, enabling law enforcement to better support victims, and also build our understanding of what drugs are being used and how common they are. The Home Office has provided £70,000 in additional funding to enable the police to submit an additional 200 samples through the accredited process.</li></ul><p> </p><p>This is just a snapshot of action being taken to address spiking and the Home Secretary will be publishing a report on the nature and prevalence of spiking, and action that government has taken, and will take, to tackle it. This report is now expected to be published following the May local elections.</p> answering member constituency Derbyshire Dales answering member printed Miss Sarah Dines question first answered 25/04/2023 14:38:21 answering member 4816 label Biography information for Miss Sarah Dines
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1567198

registered interest
date	16/01/2023
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Spiking
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of trends in reported incidents of spiking; and what steps she is taking to ensure that perpetrators are (a) caught, (b) prosecuted and (c) appropriately sentenced.
tabling member constituency	Darlington
tabling member printed	Peter Gibson
uin	124099
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2023 answer text <p>The Home Office collect details of spiking incidents when they are recorded through the Home Office Data Hub and this information is provided by most forces in England and Wales.</p><p>Using these police recorded crime data the assessment is that during the third quarter of 2021/2022 there was a significant rise in people reporting to police that they suspected they had been the victims of spiking. During the first three quarters in 2022/2023 the levels of recorded crime that fall under the offences which cover spiking across England and Wales have reduced significantly, albeit they are demonstrably higher than they were in the period running up to Q3 2021/22.</p><p>I urge anyone who suspects that they have been spiked to contact the police.</p><p>The Home Office is leading the cross-government approach to understanding and tackling spiking. In 2021, the then Home Secretary asked the National Police Chief's Council to urgently review and coordinate the national policing response to spiking. Since then:</p><ul><li>Spiking has been incorporated into the Government's communications campaign to tackle violence against women and girls, known as 'ENOUGH'. This includes providing important information about the crime on the campaign website and signposting victims to support services.</li><li>We have worked closely with the Festivals and Outdoor Events sector to ensure the safety of the public at summer events, ensuring that sufficient protocols, training, communications, and guidance was in place for event organisers, the police, security personnel and audiences.</li><li>Government have supported Universities UK to provide guidance to universities on spiking published ahead of the Autumn 2022 term and the ‘freshers’ period. We provided further communications on spiking to local authorities and supported NPCC targeted communications.</li><li>Police forces across the country increased their focus on spiking with high visibility police patrols across town centres and areas with a high density of pubs, bars and clubs.</li><li>The Police have produced a forensic strategy and have worked with the forensic provider Eurofins to develop a rapid testing capability. This accredited capability enables the police to send up to 50 samples per week with a project turnaround of 2-3 weeks, with the options for samples to be upgraded to be used as evidence in criminal proceedings. This enables law enforcement to better support victims, and also build our understanding of what drugs are being used and how common or not they are.</li><li>The Home Secretary will be publishing a report in April on the nature and prevalence of spiking, and action that government has taken, and will take, to tackle it.</li></ul><p><strong><em> </em></strong></p><p>In December 2021, the NPCC established a rapid urine testing capability, which to date, remains the only accredited urine testing service which can later be “upgraded” for use in criminal proceedings.</p><p>The government position remains clear: off the shelf testing kits should not be used in isolation due to their unknown accuracy and the lack of any standardisation across the industry. If such test kits are used, we still recommend that individuals contact the police to submit a sample for processing through the rapid testing capability as soon as possible in order to receive the most accurate results and to help bring spiking offenders to justice.</p><p>Frontline police officers are trained to support victims when they report crime. All police forces receive regular updates from the National Police Chiefs’ Council spiking gold group. This helps to standardise procedures across England and Wales but provides forces with flexibility to adapt training to their local situation.</p><p>Through Safety of Women at Night Fund and the current (fourth) round of the Safer Streets Fund we have awarded funding for a range of initiatives to tackle drink spiking, including training for night-time economy staff, CCTV and street lighting and drink protectors.</p><p>The Security Industry Authority (SIA) has ensured that the training which door supervisors and security guards must undergo in order to obtain an SIA licence includes specific content on preventing violence against women and girls, and it is running campaigns to remind the industry and operatives of their role and responsibility in keeping people safe, with a focus on women’s safety.</p><p>The government also welcomes initiatives such as Ask Angela and Licensing Security and Vulnerability Initiative (LSAVI) and would encourage local areas or venues to consider how they can be used or replicated where necessary.</p> answering member constituency Derbyshire Dales answering member printed Miss Sarah Dines grouped question UIN 124100 124101 124102 124103 124104 question first answered 23/01/2023 16:24:03 answering member 4816 label Biography information for Miss Sarah Dines
tabling member	4754 label Biography information for Peter Gibson

1567208

registered interest
date	16/01/2023
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Spiking
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of providing free spiking test kits in nightclubs and bars.
tabling member constituency	Darlington
tabling member printed	Peter Gibson
uin	124100
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2023 answer text <p>The Home Office collect details of spiking incidents when they are recorded through the Home Office Data Hub and this information is provided by most forces in England and Wales.</p><p>Using these police recorded crime data the assessment is that during the third quarter of 2021/2022 there was a significant rise in people reporting to police that they suspected they had been the victims of spiking. During the first three quarters in 2022/2023 the levels of recorded crime that fall under the offences which cover spiking across England and Wales have reduced significantly, albeit they are demonstrably higher than they were in the period running up to Q3 2021/22.</p><p>I urge anyone who suspects that they have been spiked to contact the police.</p><p>The Home Office is leading the cross-government approach to understanding and tackling spiking. In 2021, the then Home Secretary asked the National Police Chief's Council to urgently review and coordinate the national policing response to spiking. Since then:</p><ul><li>Spiking has been incorporated into the Government's communications campaign to tackle violence against women and girls, known as 'ENOUGH'. This includes providing important information about the crime on the campaign website and signposting victims to support services.</li><li>We have worked closely with the Festivals and Outdoor Events sector to ensure the safety of the public at summer events, ensuring that sufficient protocols, training, communications, and guidance was in place for event organisers, the police, security personnel and audiences.</li><li>Government have supported Universities UK to provide guidance to universities on spiking published ahead of the Autumn 2022 term and the ‘freshers’ period. We provided further communications on spiking to local authorities and supported NPCC targeted communications.</li><li>Police forces across the country increased their focus on spiking with high visibility police patrols across town centres and areas with a high density of pubs, bars and clubs.</li><li>The Police have produced a forensic strategy and have worked with the forensic provider Eurofins to develop a rapid testing capability. This accredited capability enables the police to send up to 50 samples per week with a project turnaround of 2-3 weeks, with the options for samples to be upgraded to be used as evidence in criminal proceedings. This enables law enforcement to better support victims, and also build our understanding of what drugs are being used and how common or not they are.</li><li>The Home Secretary will be publishing a report in April on the nature and prevalence of spiking, and action that government has taken, and will take, to tackle it.</li></ul><p><strong><em> </em></strong></p><p>In December 2021, the NPCC established a rapid urine testing capability, which to date, remains the only accredited urine testing service which can later be “upgraded” for use in criminal proceedings.</p><p>The government position remains clear: off the shelf testing kits should not be used in isolation due to their unknown accuracy and the lack of any standardisation across the industry. If such test kits are used, we still recommend that individuals contact the police to submit a sample for processing through the rapid testing capability as soon as possible in order to receive the most accurate results and to help bring spiking offenders to justice.</p><p>Frontline police officers are trained to support victims when they report crime. All police forces receive regular updates from the National Police Chiefs’ Council spiking gold group. This helps to standardise procedures across England and Wales but provides forces with flexibility to adapt training to their local situation.</p><p>Through Safety of Women at Night Fund and the current (fourth) round of the Safer Streets Fund we have awarded funding for a range of initiatives to tackle drink spiking, including training for night-time economy staff, CCTV and street lighting and drink protectors.</p><p>The Security Industry Authority (SIA) has ensured that the training which door supervisors and security guards must undergo in order to obtain an SIA licence includes specific content on preventing violence against women and girls, and it is running campaigns to remind the industry and operatives of their role and responsibility in keeping people safe, with a focus on women’s safety.</p><p>The government also welcomes initiatives such as Ask Angela and Licensing Security and Vulnerability Initiative (LSAVI) and would encourage local areas or venues to consider how they can be used or replicated where necessary.</p> answering member constituency Derbyshire Dales answering member printed Miss Sarah Dines grouped question UIN 124099 124101 124102 124103 124104 question first answered 23/01/2023 16:24:03 answering member 4816 label Biography information for Miss Sarah Dines
tabling member	4754 label Biography information for Peter Gibson

1567209

registered interest
date	16/01/2023
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Spiking
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing funding for anti-spiking policing where incidences of that offence are high.
tabling member constituency	Darlington
tabling member printed	Peter Gibson
uin	124101
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2023 answer text <p>The Home Office collect details of spiking incidents when they are recorded through the Home Office Data Hub and this information is provided by most forces in England and Wales.</p><p>Using these police recorded crime data the assessment is that during the third quarter of 2021/2022 there was a significant rise in people reporting to police that they suspected they had been the victims of spiking. During the first three quarters in 2022/2023 the levels of recorded crime that fall under the offences which cover spiking across England and Wales have reduced significantly, albeit they are demonstrably higher than they were in the period running up to Q3 2021/22.</p><p>I urge anyone who suspects that they have been spiked to contact the police.</p><p>The Home Office is leading the cross-government approach to understanding and tackling spiking. In 2021, the then Home Secretary asked the National Police Chief's Council to urgently review and coordinate the national policing response to spiking. Since then:</p><ul><li>Spiking has been incorporated into the Government's communications campaign to tackle violence against women and girls, known as 'ENOUGH'. This includes providing important information about the crime on the campaign website and signposting victims to support services.</li><li>We have worked closely with the Festivals and Outdoor Events sector to ensure the safety of the public at summer events, ensuring that sufficient protocols, training, communications, and guidance was in place for event organisers, the police, security personnel and audiences.</li><li>Government have supported Universities UK to provide guidance to universities on spiking published ahead of the Autumn 2022 term and the ‘freshers’ period. We provided further communications on spiking to local authorities and supported NPCC targeted communications.</li><li>Police forces across the country increased their focus on spiking with high visibility police patrols across town centres and areas with a high density of pubs, bars and clubs.</li><li>The Police have produced a forensic strategy and have worked with the forensic provider Eurofins to develop a rapid testing capability. This accredited capability enables the police to send up to 50 samples per week with a project turnaround of 2-3 weeks, with the options for samples to be upgraded to be used as evidence in criminal proceedings. This enables law enforcement to better support victims, and also build our understanding of what drugs are being used and how common or not they are.</li><li>The Home Secretary will be publishing a report in April on the nature and prevalence of spiking, and action that government has taken, and will take, to tackle it.</li></ul><p><strong><em> </em></strong></p><p>In December 2021, the NPCC established a rapid urine testing capability, which to date, remains the only accredited urine testing service which can later be “upgraded” for use in criminal proceedings.</p><p>The government position remains clear: off the shelf testing kits should not be used in isolation due to their unknown accuracy and the lack of any standardisation across the industry. If such test kits are used, we still recommend that individuals contact the police to submit a sample for processing through the rapid testing capability as soon as possible in order to receive the most accurate results and to help bring spiking offenders to justice.</p><p>Frontline police officers are trained to support victims when they report crime. All police forces receive regular updates from the National Police Chiefs’ Council spiking gold group. This helps to standardise procedures across England and Wales but provides forces with flexibility to adapt training to their local situation.</p><p>Through Safety of Women at Night Fund and the current (fourth) round of the Safer Streets Fund we have awarded funding for a range of initiatives to tackle drink spiking, including training for night-time economy staff, CCTV and street lighting and drink protectors.</p><p>The Security Industry Authority (SIA) has ensured that the training which door supervisors and security guards must undergo in order to obtain an SIA licence includes specific content on preventing violence against women and girls, and it is running campaigns to remind the industry and operatives of their role and responsibility in keeping people safe, with a focus on women’s safety.</p><p>The government also welcomes initiatives such as Ask Angela and Licensing Security and Vulnerability Initiative (LSAVI) and would encourage local areas or venues to consider how they can be used or replicated where necessary.</p> answering member constituency Derbyshire Dales answering member printed Miss Sarah Dines grouped question UIN 124099 124100 124102 124103 124104 question first answered 23/01/2023 16:24:03 answering member 4816 label Biography information for Miss Sarah Dines
tabling member	4754 label Biography information for Peter Gibson

1567210

registered interest
date	16/01/2023
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Spiking
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the prevalence of needle spiking.
tabling member constituency	Darlington
tabling member printed	Peter Gibson
uin	124102
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2023 answer text <p>The Home Office collect details of spiking incidents when they are recorded through the Home Office Data Hub and this information is provided by most forces in England and Wales.</p><p>Using these police recorded crime data the assessment is that during the third quarter of 2021/2022 there was a significant rise in people reporting to police that they suspected they had been the victims of spiking. During the first three quarters in 2022/2023 the levels of recorded crime that fall under the offences which cover spiking across England and Wales have reduced significantly, albeit they are demonstrably higher than they were in the period running up to Q3 2021/22.</p><p>I urge anyone who suspects that they have been spiked to contact the police.</p><p>The Home Office is leading the cross-government approach to understanding and tackling spiking. In 2021, the then Home Secretary asked the National Police Chief's Council to urgently review and coordinate the national policing response to spiking. Since then:</p><ul><li>Spiking has been incorporated into the Government's communications campaign to tackle violence against women and girls, known as 'ENOUGH'. This includes providing important information about the crime on the campaign website and signposting victims to support services.</li><li>We have worked closely with the Festivals and Outdoor Events sector to ensure the safety of the public at summer events, ensuring that sufficient protocols, training, communications, and guidance was in place for event organisers, the police, security personnel and audiences.</li><li>Government have supported Universities UK to provide guidance to universities on spiking published ahead of the Autumn 2022 term and the ‘freshers’ period. We provided further communications on spiking to local authorities and supported NPCC targeted communications.</li><li>Police forces across the country increased their focus on spiking with high visibility police patrols across town centres and areas with a high density of pubs, bars and clubs.</li><li>The Police have produced a forensic strategy and have worked with the forensic provider Eurofins to develop a rapid testing capability. This accredited capability enables the police to send up to 50 samples per week with a project turnaround of 2-3 weeks, with the options for samples to be upgraded to be used as evidence in criminal proceedings. This enables law enforcement to better support victims, and also build our understanding of what drugs are being used and how common or not they are.</li><li>The Home Secretary will be publishing a report in April on the nature and prevalence of spiking, and action that government has taken, and will take, to tackle it.</li></ul><p><strong><em> </em></strong></p><p>In December 2021, the NPCC established a rapid urine testing capability, which to date, remains the only accredited urine testing service which can later be “upgraded” for use in criminal proceedings.</p><p>The government position remains clear: off the shelf testing kits should not be used in isolation due to their unknown accuracy and the lack of any standardisation across the industry. If such test kits are used, we still recommend that individuals contact the police to submit a sample for processing through the rapid testing capability as soon as possible in order to receive the most accurate results and to help bring spiking offenders to justice.</p><p>Frontline police officers are trained to support victims when they report crime. All police forces receive regular updates from the National Police Chiefs’ Council spiking gold group. This helps to standardise procedures across England and Wales but provides forces with flexibility to adapt training to their local situation.</p><p>Through Safety of Women at Night Fund and the current (fourth) round of the Safer Streets Fund we have awarded funding for a range of initiatives to tackle drink spiking, including training for night-time economy staff, CCTV and street lighting and drink protectors.</p><p>The Security Industry Authority (SIA) has ensured that the training which door supervisors and security guards must undergo in order to obtain an SIA licence includes specific content on preventing violence against women and girls, and it is running campaigns to remind the industry and operatives of their role and responsibility in keeping people safe, with a focus on women’s safety.</p><p>The government also welcomes initiatives such as Ask Angela and Licensing Security and Vulnerability Initiative (LSAVI) and would encourage local areas or venues to consider how they can be used or replicated where necessary.</p> answering member constituency Derbyshire Dales answering member printed Miss Sarah Dines grouped question UIN 124099 124100 124101 124103 124104 question first answered 23/01/2023 16:24:03 answering member 4816 label Biography information for Miss Sarah Dines
tabling member	4754 label Biography information for Peter Gibson

1567211

registered interest
date	16/01/2023
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Spiking
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help improve training on tackling needle spiking for (a) nightclub and (b) bar staff.
tabling member constituency	Darlington
tabling member printed	Peter Gibson
uin	124103
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2023 answer text <p>The Home Office collect details of spiking incidents when they are recorded through the Home Office Data Hub and this information is provided by most forces in England and Wales.</p><p>Using these police recorded crime data the assessment is that during the third quarter of 2021/2022 there was a significant rise in people reporting to police that they suspected they had been the victims of spiking. During the first three quarters in 2022/2023 the levels of recorded crime that fall under the offences which cover spiking across England and Wales have reduced significantly, albeit they are demonstrably higher than they were in the period running up to Q3 2021/22.</p><p>I urge anyone who suspects that they have been spiked to contact the police.</p><p>The Home Office is leading the cross-government approach to understanding and tackling spiking. In 2021, the then Home Secretary asked the National Police Chief's Council to urgently review and coordinate the national policing response to spiking. Since then:</p><ul><li>Spiking has been incorporated into the Government's communications campaign to tackle violence against women and girls, known as 'ENOUGH'. This includes providing important information about the crime on the campaign website and signposting victims to support services.</li><li>We have worked closely with the Festivals and Outdoor Events sector to ensure the safety of the public at summer events, ensuring that sufficient protocols, training, communications, and guidance was in place for event organisers, the police, security personnel and audiences.</li><li>Government have supported Universities UK to provide guidance to universities on spiking published ahead of the Autumn 2022 term and the ‘freshers’ period. We provided further communications on spiking to local authorities and supported NPCC targeted communications.</li><li>Police forces across the country increased their focus on spiking with high visibility police patrols across town centres and areas with a high density of pubs, bars and clubs.</li><li>The Police have produced a forensic strategy and have worked with the forensic provider Eurofins to develop a rapid testing capability. This accredited capability enables the police to send up to 50 samples per week with a project turnaround of 2-3 weeks, with the options for samples to be upgraded to be used as evidence in criminal proceedings. This enables law enforcement to better support victims, and also build our understanding of what drugs are being used and how common or not they are.</li><li>The Home Secretary will be publishing a report in April on the nature and prevalence of spiking, and action that government has taken, and will take, to tackle it.</li></ul><p><strong><em> </em></strong></p><p>In December 2021, the NPCC established a rapid urine testing capability, which to date, remains the only accredited urine testing service which can later be “upgraded” for use in criminal proceedings.</p><p>The government position remains clear: off the shelf testing kits should not be used in isolation due to their unknown accuracy and the lack of any standardisation across the industry. If such test kits are used, we still recommend that individuals contact the police to submit a sample for processing through the rapid testing capability as soon as possible in order to receive the most accurate results and to help bring spiking offenders to justice.</p><p>Frontline police officers are trained to support victims when they report crime. All police forces receive regular updates from the National Police Chiefs’ Council spiking gold group. This helps to standardise procedures across England and Wales but provides forces with flexibility to adapt training to their local situation.</p><p>Through Safety of Women at Night Fund and the current (fourth) round of the Safer Streets Fund we have awarded funding for a range of initiatives to tackle drink spiking, including training for night-time economy staff, CCTV and street lighting and drink protectors.</p><p>The Security Industry Authority (SIA) has ensured that the training which door supervisors and security guards must undergo in order to obtain an SIA licence includes specific content on preventing violence against women and girls, and it is running campaigns to remind the industry and operatives of their role and responsibility in keeping people safe, with a focus on women’s safety.</p><p>The government also welcomes initiatives such as Ask Angela and Licensing Security and Vulnerability Initiative (LSAVI) and would encourage local areas or venues to consider how they can be used or replicated where necessary.</p> answering member constituency Derbyshire Dales answering member printed Miss Sarah Dines grouped question UIN 124099 124100 124101 124102 124104 question first answered 23/01/2023 16:24:03 answering member 4816 label Biography information for Miss Sarah Dines
tabling member	4754 label Biography information for Peter Gibson

1567212

registered interest
date	16/01/2023
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Spiking
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help improve training for police officers on tackling needle spiking.
tabling member constituency	Darlington
tabling member printed	Peter Gibson
uin	124104
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2023 answer text <p>The Home Office collect details of spiking incidents when they are recorded through the Home Office Data Hub and this information is provided by most forces in England and Wales.</p><p>Using these police recorded crime data the assessment is that during the third quarter of 2021/2022 there was a significant rise in people reporting to police that they suspected they had been the victims of spiking. During the first three quarters in 2022/2023 the levels of recorded crime that fall under the offences which cover spiking across England and Wales have reduced significantly, albeit they are demonstrably higher than they were in the period running up to Q3 2021/22.</p><p>I urge anyone who suspects that they have been spiked to contact the police.</p><p>The Home Office is leading the cross-government approach to understanding and tackling spiking. In 2021, the then Home Secretary asked the National Police Chief's Council to urgently review and coordinate the national policing response to spiking. Since then:</p><ul><li>Spiking has been incorporated into the Government's communications campaign to tackle violence against women and girls, known as 'ENOUGH'. This includes providing important information about the crime on the campaign website and signposting victims to support services.</li><li>We have worked closely with the Festivals and Outdoor Events sector to ensure the safety of the public at summer events, ensuring that sufficient protocols, training, communications, and guidance was in place for event organisers, the police, security personnel and audiences.</li><li>Government have supported Universities UK to provide guidance to universities on spiking published ahead of the Autumn 2022 term and the ‘freshers’ period. We provided further communications on spiking to local authorities and supported NPCC targeted communications.</li><li>Police forces across the country increased their focus on spiking with high visibility police patrols across town centres and areas with a high density of pubs, bars and clubs.</li><li>The Police have produced a forensic strategy and have worked with the forensic provider Eurofins to develop a rapid testing capability. This accredited capability enables the police to send up to 50 samples per week with a project turnaround of 2-3 weeks, with the options for samples to be upgraded to be used as evidence in criminal proceedings. This enables law enforcement to better support victims, and also build our understanding of what drugs are being used and how common or not they are.</li><li>The Home Secretary will be publishing a report in April on the nature and prevalence of spiking, and action that government has taken, and will take, to tackle it.</li></ul><p><strong><em> </em></strong></p><p>In December 2021, the NPCC established a rapid urine testing capability, which to date, remains the only accredited urine testing service which can later be “upgraded” for use in criminal proceedings.</p><p>The government position remains clear: off the shelf testing kits should not be used in isolation due to their unknown accuracy and the lack of any standardisation across the industry. If such test kits are used, we still recommend that individuals contact the police to submit a sample for processing through the rapid testing capability as soon as possible in order to receive the most accurate results and to help bring spiking offenders to justice.</p><p>Frontline police officers are trained to support victims when they report crime. All police forces receive regular updates from the National Police Chiefs’ Council spiking gold group. This helps to standardise procedures across England and Wales but provides forces with flexibility to adapt training to their local situation.</p><p>Through Safety of Women at Night Fund and the current (fourth) round of the Safer Streets Fund we have awarded funding for a range of initiatives to tackle drink spiking, including training for night-time economy staff, CCTV and street lighting and drink protectors.</p><p>The Security Industry Authority (SIA) has ensured that the training which door supervisors and security guards must undergo in order to obtain an SIA licence includes specific content on preventing violence against women and girls, and it is running campaigns to remind the industry and operatives of their role and responsibility in keeping people safe, with a focus on women’s safety.</p><p>The government also welcomes initiatives such as Ask Angela and Licensing Security and Vulnerability Initiative (LSAVI) and would encourage local areas or venues to consider how they can be used or replicated where necessary.</p> answering member constituency Derbyshire Dales answering member printed Miss Sarah Dines grouped question UIN 124099 124100 124101 124102 124103 question first answered 23/01/2023 16:24:03 answering member 4816 label Biography information for Miss Sarah Dines
tabling member	4754 label Biography information for Peter Gibson