Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 16
16
Accepted
Paragraph: 85
Introduce duty on all police forces to provide rapid spiking testing service
Recommendation
To ensure adequate, timely provision of forensic sampling of a standard sufficient to be admissible as evidence in court, the Government should introduce a duty on all police forces to provide those who report any spiking incident with the rapid testing service introduced in response to the outbreak of needle spiking.
Government Response Summary
The government states that law enforcement, in partnership with Eurofins, already established a rapid urine testing service in response to needle spiking, which has been open to all spiking samples since January 2022 and will be developed further in 2023.
Paragraph Reference:
85
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
As the Committee notes, law enforcement, in partnership with forensic provider Eurofins, established an accredited rapid urine testing service in response to the outbreak of needle spiking in Autumn 2021. This service will be in place throughout 2022, with the intention of developing a better service in 2023. This capability is both faster and less expensive than a full toxicology submission, enabling law enforcement to provide assurance and additional support to victims more quickly than they would usually be able to.4 Results from the rapid testing capability can be upgraded for evidential purposes. This capability, while initially open only to samples from reports of needle spiking, has been open to all spiking samples since January 2022.