Freedom of information response

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? No

Q2) Have you run a communications campaign to clearly demonstrate that your council takes a zero-tolerance approach to spiking. No

Q3) Which of the following partnership schemes are training packages are referenced in your statement of licensing policy?

· Pubwatch YES

· Best Bar None No

· Purple Flag NO

· Community Alcohol Partnerships No

· Street Pastors No

· The Welfare and Vulnerability Engagement (WAVE) initiative NO

· ‘Ask for Angela’ No

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. No

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 0

b) 2019 0

c) 2020 0

d) 2021 0

e) 2022 0

f) 2023 (including latest available data) 0

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 0

b) 2019 0

c) 2020 0

d) 2021 0

e) 2022 0

f) 2023 (including latest available data) 0

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 N/A

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Where the copyright is owned by Thurrock Council, you must apply to the Council to re-use the information. Please email information.matters@thurrock.gov.uk if you wish to re-use the information you have been supplied. For information where the copyright is owned by another person or organisation, you must apply to the copyright owner to obtain their permission.

If you are dissatisfied with the way in which the council have managed your FOI request you can pursue an Internal Review by contacting us using the above email address. An internal review must be submitted within 40 working days of your original reply. Your request will be considered by a senior member of the Information Management Team who will update you with the outcome of the review.

If you remain unhappy following the outcome of your Internal Review you may wish to refer your case to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and details of this organisation can be found at www.ico.org.uk . Please be advised that the ICO will not consider your case until they have confirmation that you have already been through the Internal Review stage with the council.