Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Ninth Report - Spiking
Home Affairs Committee
HC 967
Published 26 April 2022
Recommendations
1
Accepted
Para 12
Mandate compulsory safeguarding training for all staff, including vendors, at music festivals.
Recommendation
We recommend that all staff working at music festivals, including vendors, be given compulsory safeguarding training, and this be a requirement that licensing authorities consider when approving events. This might be done along lines similar to training provided in voluntary …
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Government Response Summary
The government rejected mandating compulsory safeguarding training for all festival staff but committed to reviewing the Section 182 guidance of the Licensing Act 2003 to advise licensing committees to consider staff safeguarding training when approving event licences.
Home Office
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4
Accepted
Improve reporting mechanisms and data collection on spiking incidents across the UK
Recommendation
We call on the Home Office to increase education and awareness about spiking and welcome its considering whether a specific new offence of spiking is required. We urge the Home Office, however, to focus its efforts first on improving reporting …
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Government Response Summary
The government committed to increasing education and awareness about spiking by integrating it into the 'Enough' campaign and working with law enforcement and venues to ensure clear messaging for victims regarding forensics and reporting.
Home Office
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8
Acknowledged
Para 47
Produce national anti-spiking communications campaign engaging night-time, education, and health sectors
Recommendation
As part of its national communications campaign to say “Enough” to violence against women and girls, the Government should engage with the night-time industry, the education sector, and the health sector to produce a national anti-spiking communications campaign. The awareness …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and is working with policing stakeholders to promote key messages, while exploring options for further communications and outreach through the education and private sectors.
Home Office
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10
Deferred
Para 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.
Home Office
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11
Deferred
Para 59
Strengthen licensing authority powers and guidance to prevent spiking and gender-based violence
Recommendation
We are concerned that the Government is not doing enough to monitor licensing authorities’ use of powers to regulate the night-time economy, both with specific regard to spiking incidents and more generally in relation to violence against women and girls. …
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Government Response Summary
The government did not address the recommendation to monitor licensing authorities' use of powers or to review section 182 guidance, instead stating it will consider research into the motivations of spiking offenders.
Home Office
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13
Accepted in Part
Develop national anti-spiking strategy by evaluating initiatives and promoting best practice
Recommendation
The Government should evaluate the efficacy of different anti-spiking partnership initiatives and develop a national strategy which promotes best practice and requires all police forces and local authorities to publish their chosen approach. (Paragraph 66) Spiking 41 Detecting and investigating …
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Government Response Summary
The government intends to review anti-spiking initiatives as part of a statutory review due April 2023, featuring best practice, but currently has no intention to publish a specific national strategy. It will consider requiring police forces and local authorities to publish their approach.
Home Office
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14
Accepted in Part
Para 75
Necessity of national communications campaign to raise spiking awareness and reporting
Recommendation
The Home Office, in partnership with key stakeholders, should conduct a national communications campaign to raise awareness of how to act when people suspect they have been spiked. This campaign should emphasise the importance of individuals and venues reporting incidents …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and is working with policing stakeholders to promote key messages through campaigns like 'Enough'. It will explore options for further communications, but does not explicitly commit to anonymous reporting or a new national campaign.
Home Office
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16
Accepted
Para 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 …
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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.
Home Office
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18
Not Addressed
Para 89
Call for Home Office to require warnings and expedite spiking testing review
Recommendation
The Home Office should require commercially available drug-testing products to carry warnings about their limitations; expedite its planned scientific review of the relative merits of the various spiking testing pilots being run by the police, universities and hospitals and report …
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Government Response Summary
The government states there is no single effective test kit and urges victims to contact police for forensic analysis. It does not commit to requiring warnings on commercial products, expediting the review to a 3-month deadline, or supporting wider adoption after the review.
Home Office
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20
Acknowledged
Para 97
Commission academic research into spiker motivations for national anti-spiking strategy
Recommendation
The Home Office should commission academic research into the motivations and profile of spikers, to feed into a national strategy for preventing, detecting and prosecuting spiking offences.
Government Response Summary
The government agrees that offender motivations are unclear and will consider options for research into motivations, and intends to carry out a review of existing academic research into spiking.
Home Office
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22
Deferred
Need for government strategy to address factors inhibiting spiking prosecutions
Recommendation
To increase the deterrent effect of increased prosecutions, Government should devise a strategy to address each of the factors that inhibit prosecution from lack of reporting through to failure to collect forensic evidence. (Paragraph 103) 42 Spiking
Government Response Summary
The government recognises factors inhibiting spiking prosecutions and has begun discussions with police, CPS, and the Attorney General's office, with outcomes to be included in a statutory report by April 2023.
Home Office
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Conclusions (11)
2
Conclusion
Deferred
Para 12
We believe that a more formal and higher standard is required for outdoor music festivals owing to the comparatively younger age of festival-goers and the additional vulnerability that arises from their camping over at such festivals.
Government Response Summary
The government's response focused on improving data collection and victim support for spiking incidents, including establishing a new NPCC reporting mechanism, deflecting from the recommendation for a more formal and higher standard of safeguarding at outdoor music festivals.
3
Conclusion
Deferred
Para 18
No-one knows how prevalent spiking is, whether by drink, drug or needle, and no-one knows what causes perpetrators to do it. Anecdotal evidence suggests the practice is widespread and dangerous, and that many people, particularly young, particularly women, are affected by it and are afraid they will be spiked on …
Government Response Summary
The government committed to bringing forward its deadline to 26 October for updating Parliament on whether it intends to introduce a specific criminal offence for spiking, but did not directly commit to gathering more accurate data on the prevalence and causes of spiking.
5
Conclusion
Rejected
Para 26
The Home Office should give the Committee a written update six months from the date of publication of this Report on progress towards creating a separate criminal offence of spiking.
Government Response Summary
The government did not commit to providing the Committee with a six-month written update on the progress towards creating a separate criminal offence for spiking, instead referring to a broader statutory report on spiking to be published in April 2023.
6
Conclusion
Accepted
The existence of a spiking offence would not in and of itself stop spiking, but it would have several benefits. First, it would facilitate police work under way to identify perpetrators and patterns of offending by enabling the police to collect better data on the prevalence of spiking incidents. Secondly, …
Government Response Summary
The government committed to reviewing the guidance issued under Section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003 to consider whether to require licensing authorities to address the prevalence, prevention, and reporting of sexual harassment, misconduct, and gender-based violence in their local licensing policies.
7
Conclusion
Accepted
There is an urgent need for improved education and awareness around spiking across several sectors. (Paragraph 47) 40 Spiking
Government Response Summary
The government intends to conduct reviews of international activity, academic research, and anti-spiking initiatives, publishing a final report by 28 April 2023 featuring best practice case studies. They will also consider requiring police and local authorities to present an anti-spiking mission statement.
9
Conclusion
Deferred
Para 54
There is strong support for increased security measures in night-time venues, but critical shortages in door security staff.
Government Response Summary
The government did not address the recommendation about increasing security measures or addressing door staff shortages, instead detailing the existing rapid urine testing service established by law enforcement and Eurofins.
12
Conclusion
Deferred
Para 66
We are pleased to learn there are many initiatives across the country to tackle spiking but are concerned that without a national strategy to ensure a consistent, wholesale approach, the current patchwork of initiatives may make those in parts of the country that have not yet taken action more vulnerable …
Government Response Summary
The government did not commit to a national strategy for a consistent approach to anti-spiking initiatives, but instead outlined preliminary discussions with police and legal bodies regarding factors inhibiting prosecutions, with outcomes to be included in a statutory report by April 2023.
15
Conclusion
Para 85
Accessibility to testing is an issue for many victims and the lack of forensic testing capacity creates evidential difficulties for the police.
17
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 89
We are pleased that the Home Office is planning a scientific review of testing kits but are concerned that in the meantime victims could get false assurances from such kits.
Government Response Summary
The government recognises the concern about test kits providing false assurances, stating no single kit covers all drugs and urges victims to contact police for forensic analysis, mentioning ongoing evaluations and a statutory review.
19
Conclusion
Para 96
Limited police understanding of the motives and profile of spiking offenders hampers their ability to develop a national strategy on tackling spiking.
21
Conclusion
Para 103
Successful prosecution has a deterrent value for both actual and would-be spikers and sends a clear message that spiking is a crime. We are therefore disappointed by the very low number of successful prosecutions for spiking offences.