Spiking: Scottish Local Authorities (responsible for licensing premises)

Will Hecker made this Freedom of Information request to East Dunbartonshire Council as part of a batch sent to 32 authorities This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

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The request was partially successful.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act.

The Local Government Association offer guidance on good practice for licensing authorities in response to spiking. Our inquiries relate to the extent to which your licensing authority implements these recommendations – specifically:-

Q1) Do you explicitly reference spiking prevention in your statement of licensing policy?

Q2) Have you run a communications campaign to clearly demonstrate that your council takes a zero-tolerance approach to spiking.

Q3) Which of the following partnership schemes are training packages are referenced in your statement of licensing policy?
· Pubwatch
· Best Bar None
· Purple Flag
· Community Alcohol Partnerships
· Street Pastors
· The Welfare and Vulnerability Engagement (WAVE) initiative
· ‘Ask for Angela’

Q4) Has your licensing authority followed the recommendation of the Home Affairs Select Committee to consider the prevalence, prevention and reporting of sexual harassment and misconduct and gender-based violence in statements of licensing policy.

Q5) For the previous 5 calendar years please provide the number of venues which have had their licence suspended, revoked, or/and had conditions added to the licence, as a result of spiking incidents within the venue. Please could you provide this data broken down by year.
a) 2018
b) 2019
c) 2020
d) 2021
e) 2022
f) 2023 (including latest available data)

Q6) How many incidents of alleged spiking have been recorded by the licensing authority in the past five years. Please break down by year
a) 2018
b) 2019
c) 2020
d) 2021
e) 2022
f) 2023 (including latest available data)

Q7) Please provide details of the three most recent cases where a venue has had its licence suspended, revoked or/and had conditions added, as a result of spiking incidents

Thank you in advance for your help with these queries.

Yours faithfully,
Will Hecker

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Dear Sir

FOI/16661 - Licensed premises (Spiking)

Thank you for your request for information. In answer to your enquiry, I
can provide the following response on behalf of East Dunbartonshire
Council:

Question

The Local Government Association offer guidance on good practice for
licensing authorities in response to spiking. Our inquiries relate to the
extent to which your licensing authority implements these recommendations ?
specifically:-

Q1) Do you explicitly reference spiking prevention in your statement of
licensing policy?

Q2) Have you run a communications campaign to clearly demonstrate that your
council takes a zero-tolerance approach to spiking.

Q3) Which of the following partnership schemes are training packages are
referenced in your statement of licensing policy?
· Pubwatch
· Best Bar None
· Purple Flag
· Community Alcohol Partnerships
· Street Pastors
· The Welfare and Vulnerability Engagement (WAVE) initiative
· ?Ask for Angela?

Q4) Has your licensing authority followed the recommendation of the Home
Affairs Select Committee to consider the prevalence, prevention and
reporting of sexual harassment and misconduct and gender-based violence in
statements of licensing policy.

Q5) For the previous 5 calendar years please provide the number of venues
which have had their licence suspended, revoked, or/and had conditions
added to the licence, as a result of spiking incidents within the venue.
Please could you provide this data broken down by year.
a) 2018
b) 2019
c) 2020
d) 2021
e) 2022
f) 2023 (including latest available data)

Q6) How many incidents of alleged spiking have been recorded by the
licensing authority in the past five years. Please break down by year
a) 2018
b) 2019
c) 2020
d) 2021
e) 2022
f) 2023 (including latest available data)

Q7) Please provide details of the three most recent cases where a venue has
had its licence suspended, revoked or/and had conditions added, as a result
of spiking incidents

Answer

In response to your questions I am able to provide you with the following
information:-

Q1) This is not a valid request under the under the Freedom of Information
(Scotland) Act 2002 as it is not a request for recorded information in
accordance with section 73 of the Act. The Council is not obligated to
provide an opinion or a summary of recorded information under the Act.
However, in order to assist with your query, I can advise that the East
Dunbartonshire Licensing Board does not explicitly reference spiking
prevention in its Statement of Licensing Policy (the ?Policy?). However,
one of the purposes of the Policy is to promote the Licensing Objectives as
defined the Licensing (Scotland) act 2005 (the ?2005 Act?). One of the
Licensing Objectives is preventing crime and disorder. The Policy states
that in carrying out its functions, the Board will have regard to the
likely impact licensed premises may have on crime and disorder. Applicants
and licence holders are advised that they should be able to demonstrate
that all factors which impact on crime and disorder have been considered.
A non-exhaustive list is provided which includes illegal possession and/or
use of drugs, violent behaviour and harassment of customers.

Q2) This is not a valid request under the under the Freedom of Information
(Scotland) Act 2002 as it is not a request for recorded information in
accordance with section 73 of the Act. The Council is not obligated to
provide an opinion or a summary of recorded information under the Act.
However, in order to assist with your query, I can advise that the Board
has not run a communications campaign in relation to spiking.

Q3) This is not a valid request under the under the Freedom of Information
(Scotland) Act 2002 as it is not a request for recorded information in
accordance with section 73 of the Act. The Council is not obligated to
provide an opinion or a summary of recorded information under the Act.
However, in order to assist with your query, I can advise that the Board
references Pubwatch and Best Bar None in its Policy as well as generally
encouraging premises to have membership and accreditation of industry
recognised award schemes.

Q4) This is not a valid request under the under the Freedom of Information
(Scotland) Act 2002 as it is not a request for recorded information in
accordance with section 73 of the Act. The Council is not obligated to
provide an opinion or a summary of recorded information under the Act.
However, in order to assist with your query, I can advise that it appears
the recommendation of the Home Affairs Select Committee was to the UK
government to review guidance under the Licensing Act 2003. The Licensing
Act 2003 and guidance issued under this Act do not apply to Licensing
Boards in Scotland. In preparing its statement of Licensing Board, the
Board complies with the 2005 Act and has regard to any guidance issued by
the Scottish Government under the 2005 Act.

Q5) I must inform you that the information you have requested is subject to
an absolute exemption under section 25 of the Freedom of Information
(Scotland) Act 2002, in that the information is otherwise reasonably
accessible to you. The information requested is available in the Minutes of
the Board?s decisions and the Minutes can be found on the Council?s website
at Search Committee documents | East Dunbartonshire Council. However, in
order to assist you with your query, I can advised that the Board has not
suspended, revoked or added conditions to a licence as a result of spiking
incidents within a venue.

Q6) Following a search of our paper and electronic records I have
established that the information requested about alleged spiking incidents
is not held by East Dunbartonshire Council. Therefore, I am required to
tell you that in terms of section 17(1) of the Freedom of Information
(Scotland) Act 2002 the Council believes it does not hold the information
requested. However, in order to assist you with your query, I can advise
that it is believed that there have been no incidents of alleged spiking
reported to the Board in the past five years.

Q7) I must inform you that the information you have requested is subject to
an absolute exemption under section 25 of the Freedom of Information
(Scotland) Act 2002, in that the information is otherwise reasonably
accessible to you. The information requested is available in the Minutes of
the Board?s decisions and the Minutes can be found on the Council?s website
at Search Committee documents | East Dunbartonshire Council. However, in
order to assist you with your query, I can advised that the Board has not
suspended, revoked or added conditions to a licence as a result of spiking
incidents within a venue.

Should you have any questions on the content of the response and would like
the Local Authority to clarify or explain, please do feel free to get in
contact, citing the enquiry reference number above.

If you are dissatisfied with the way in which East Dunbartonshire Council
responded to your request, you are entitled to require the Council to
review its decision. The review will be handled by staff who were not
involved in the original decision. Please note that in order for a review
to take place you must:

- Lodge a written requirement for a review within 40 working days of the
date of this letter
- Include a correspondence address and a description of the original
request and the reason why you are dissatisfied.
- Address your request to the Freedom of Information Officer:

[East Dunbartonshire Council request email]

The review will be handled by staff who were not involved in the original
decision. You will receive notice of the results of the review within 20
working days of receipt of your request. The notice will state the
findings of the review as well as details of how to appeal to the Scottish
Information Commissioner if you are still dissatisfied with the Council?s
response. You must request an internal review by the Council before a
complaint can be directed to the Scottish Information Commissioner.
Information Management Team
East Dunbartonshire Council
[email address]
www.eastdunbarton.gov.uk
www.facebook.com/edunbartonshirecouncil

From: "Will Hecker" <[FOI #973706 email]>
To: "FOI requests at East Dunbartonshire Council"
<[East Dunbartonshire Council request email]>
Date: 19/04/2023 17:05
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Spiking: Scottish Local
Authorities (responsible for licensing premises)

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to request the following information under the Freedom of
Information Act.