Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the requirement for drug testing charities to obtain licenses from her Department for back of house drug testing in the presence of police officers, for what reason (a) her Department's policy has changed and (b) charities were not given advance notice; if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of (i) waving the fee for applications for such licences and (ii) expediting those applications; and if she will commission the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to review this area of policy and make recommendations.

Home Office policy on drug testing has not changed. It is a long-established legal requirement, under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001, that a controlled drugs licence is needed to lawfully undertake activities including the possession, supply or production of controlled drugs.

We have been clear that organisations providing drug testing services need to apply for a Home Office licence where they are undertaking activities with controlled drugs.

The Home Office has not received any licence applications from organisations wanting to provide drug testing services at festivals this year. The Government’s guidance on applying for a controlled drug licence sets out the timelines required for the Home Office to consider an application. These timelines enable the Home Office to fulfil its legislative duties and its international obligations under the United Nations Drug Conventions. Similarly, fees for licence applications are set out in statute and are applied universally to prospective licensees.

The Home Office has no plans to commission the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to review drug testing.