Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 10
10
Deferred
Paragraph: 54
Consider support package for night-time industry to boost security and staff recruitment
Recommendation
As part of its wider VAWG strategy, the Government should consider a support package for night-time industries to boost security measures including the recruitment and training of additional door security staff, particularly female staff.
Government Response Summary
The government did not address the recommendation for a support package for night-time industries to boost security and recruit staff, instead focusing on concerns about the efficacy of non-lab-based spiking test kits and existing forensic testing capabilities.
Paragraph Reference:
54
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
The Government recognises the use of spiking test kits in various parts of the country, but we remain clear that there is no single test kit that reports to cover the number of drugs that have been identified as potential candidates for spiking. We therefore feel that an evaluation of pilots which only utilise non-lab-based test kits could provide potential victims with a false sense of security given the lack of any industry certification or validation to account for the efficacy of such test kits. We therefore urge anyone who suspect that they or someone around them have been spiked to contact the police in order to collect a sample for forensic analysis through an accredited testing capability, such as that established by law enforcement and forensic provider Eurofins. To date, this remains the only method which will provide certainty in sample analysis. We are currently aware of efforts within law enforcement to consider how local toxicology services can assist our response to spiking incidents. The results from this will form part of the statutory review of spiking. We are also aware of a limited evaluation being carried out over summer on a urine test kit utilised in some police forces. The project is likely to assess the kit’s efficacy in detecting a number of substances which have been identified as part of the Eurofins rapid testing capability.