Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has a programme of test purchases of chemical substances to assess compliance by retailers with the provisions of the Poisons Act 1972.

The Home Office uses a wide range of methods used in monitoring the compliance of online and offline retailers to ensure that they are adhering to the law.

One method is to have a covert officer attempt to purchase a banned or restricted product without meeting the required conditions (i.e. having a Home Office issued licence). Due to operational security, we are unable to provide further details.