1st June 2026
We are delighted to hear that the Crime and Policing Bill has now received royal assent. This includes provisions creating a new offence of administering a substance, including by spiking. We are proud to be one of the organisations which has campaigned and lobbied over a number of years to update existing laws and so the introduction of this new offence is a welcome development.
We are pleased to hear that there is some excellent practical work underway as follows:
The National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls and Public Protection (NCVPP) have launched the Home Office‑funded Project Alliance, which is designed to support the timely collection of urine samples from victims of spiking and to improve victims’ experiences of the evidence‑giving process. The project is being piloted by Nottinghamshire, Lancashire and Northumbria police forces, and you may already have seen some of the recent media coverage, including this excellent ITV piece: Health and educational sites in Newcastle to get spiking test kits in pilot scheme | ITV News Tyne Tees
The NCVPP have also launched new spiking guidance for the police to increase consistency and standards across spiking investigations. This will be complemented by comprehensive new spiking training for the police, which has been developed in collaboration with the Metropolitan Police and will be rolled out over the next few months.
The University of Birmingham has now completed their research into spiking perpetrator motivations. This is a particularly strong and informative piece of work, adding valuable qualitative depth to the growing academic evidence base on this issue.
Spiking has also now been incorporated into the Annual Data Requirement, meaning the Home Office will receive more consistent and detailed data from police forces. While it will take time for this to bed in, we are hopeful that this will provide a significantly improved evidence base going forward.
The Security Industry Authority have now provided their updated training, which includes spiking awareness, to over 300,000 licence‑holders. This represents really significant progress in ensuring that those working in front line security roles are well educated on the issue.
How can we help? Hard copy resources
We have a set of three different spiking posters, ideal for displaying to give quick and easy information and advice around spiking, including a QR code which young people can scan to take them to Life Stuff for further details. We can send you a set of 3 x 10 posters. Email kate@talkabouttrust.org to order.
We also have credit card sized awareness cards which young people can carry with them for top tips and advice around spiking. We can provide 500 cards free of charge. Email kate@talkabouttrust.org to order.