Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to tackle drink spiking.

The reports of the spiking of drinks with illegal substances, and of other attacks on individuals in night time venues, are of course concerning. This is an ongoing matter which the police are investigating. We would encourage anyone who is a victim or a witness of the offences to report the information to the police.

The Government is supporting the rollout of pilot initiatives to improve the safety of women in public spaces at night, including in the night-time economy. We have committed to delivering a £5 million ‘Safety of Women at Night’ fund, in addition to the £25 million Safer Streets Fund Round 3. These funds will support projects that target potential perpetrators, seek to protect potential victims, or deliver programmes intended to address offending behaviour. This includes, but is not limited to, policing interventions such as enforcement activity.

Licensing authorities have a number of options available to them to manage the night-time economy through a range of powers to tackle existing individual premises which are causing problems including the use of conditions, licence reviews and closure powers under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

The SIA is running a long-term public safety campaign targeted at the private security industry on this issue. The SIA has sent out a direct communication to all front-line licence holders (over 300,000) reminding them of the vital role they can play in preventing violence against women and girls. This includes identifying and preventing predatory behaviour. The note also reminds them of their training and duty of care required of them, and guidance on how to help and support individuals in vulnerable situations. The SIA will be running a social media campaign that reinforces these messages and signposts licence holders to best practice and guidance. We know this communication is getting traction from the industry feedback the SIA have been getting; they have also received early feedback from training providers who are looking at how they can support the campaign in their training.