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1487010

	registered interest
	date	06/07/2022
	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, if she will create a specific criminal offence for (a) drink and (b) needle spiking.
	tabling member constituency	Easington
	tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
	uin	31815
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2022 answer text <p>Spiking is an issue that the government takes very seriously. Perpetrators of such attacks need to be brought to justice, and the Government are committed to achieving that. Everybody has the right to enjoy a night out without fear.</p><p>Spiking is already illegal, and there are a range of offences which the police can use to prosecute this behaviour depending on the circumstances of individual cases.</p><p>I recognise the concerns that have been expressed that the lack of a specific spiking offence makes it more difficult to identify trends, and my department is considering the case for a criminal offence.</p><p>We will not hesitate to legislate if necessary and will inform parliament on the outcome of this consideration in October.</p> answering member constituency Derby North answering member printed Amanda Solloway question first answered 12/07/2022 09:55:47 answering member 4372 label Biography information for Amanda Solloway previous answer version 11901 answering member constituency Derby North answering member printed Amanda Solloway answering member 4372 label Biography information for Amanda Solloway
	tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

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

1698099

	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, if he will issue guidance to the police on ensuring that people providing statements are asked whether they have had their drink spiked.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	20079
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2024 answer text <p>The Home Office does not intend to issue guidance as described, as it would not be appropriate for such a question to be asked to all individuals providing statements to the police.</p><p>All incidents are taken seriously by the police, and officers will always seek to follow relevant lines of enquiry. The questions asked by the police will therefore be specific to the circumstances of each particular incident, including the individual’s version of events.</p><p>If there is anything to indicate that there is an element of spiking it will be fully investigated.</p> answering member constituency Newbury answering member printed Laura Farris question first answered 03/04/2024 08:53:54 answering member 4826 label Biography information for Laura Farris
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

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

1700152

	registered interest
	date	12/04/2024
	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, whether he is taking steps to ensure that people who are arrested are tested to see if their drink has been spiked.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	21133
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/04/2024 answer text <p>The Home Office has no plans to implement mandatory spiking testing for arrestees.</p><p>We urge anyone who believes they or someone around them has been spiked to contact the police as soon as possible to report the incident and submit a urine sample for testing through the approved lab-based process. Incidents can also be reported online - including anonymously.</p><p>Individuals who have been arrested by the police but believe they have been spiked can raise this with them and submit a sample for testing.</p> answering member constituency Newbury answering member printed Laura Farris question first answered 22/04/2024 16:53:07 answering member 4826 label Biography information for Laura Farris
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1506194

	registered interest
	date	08/09/2022
	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, how many cases of spiking of (a) drinks and (b) by injection have been reported to the police in England in each of the last 12 months.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	49720
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/09/2022 answer text <p>Reports of spiking, be that via drink or needle, are of course concerning. It is not possible with the data that the Home Office holds to provide a full and accurate picture on the scale of such attacks. The Home Office will publish data on the number of spiking reports as part of the statutory report on the scale and nature spiking. The report will be published in April 2023.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 23/09/2022 08:20:32 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1539135

	registered interest
	date	03/11/2022
	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 Second Special Report of Session 2022–23 of the Home Affairs Select Committee entitled Spiking: Government Response to the Committee’s Ninth Report, HC508, when she plans to update Parliament on whether the Government intends to introduce a specific criminal offence for spiking; and for what reason her Department did not update Parliament on that matter before 26 October 2022 as set out in that Government response.
	tabling member constituency	Nottingham South
	tabling member printed	Lilian Greenwood
	uin	78691
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/11/2022 answer text <p>The government is absolutely committed to updating Parliament on the need for a specific criminal offence for spiking.</p><p>The Home Office informed the Home Affairs Select Committee on 11 October that the update, while forthcoming, is to be delayed. This is due to recent changes in government and the death of Her Late Majesty.</p><p>We are aiming to provide this update before the Christmas Recess.</p> answering member constituency Derbyshire Dales answering member printed Miss Sarah Dines question first answered 08/11/2022 13:49:40 answering member 4816 label Biography information for Miss Sarah Dines
	tabling member	4029 label Biography information for Lilian Greenwood

1540608

	registered interest
	date	08/11/2022
	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 her Department plans to report on the (a) prevalence and (b) nature of spiking; and if she will make it her policy to create a specific criminal offence for (i) drink and (ii) needle spiking.
	tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
	tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
	uin	82230
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/11/2022 answer text <p>The government’s statutory report on the prevalence and nature of spiking is due to be published no later than 28 April 2023.</p><p>The government is committed to updating Parliament on the need for a specific criminal offence for spiking. We are aiming to provide this update before the Christmas Recess.</p> answering member constituency Derbyshire Dales answering member printed Miss Sarah Dines question first answered 14/11/2022 17:16:44 answering member 4816 label Biography information for Miss Sarah Dines
	tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

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