Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2023 to Question 176520 on Nitrous Oxide: Misuse, with reference to the Working Protocol between the Home Secretary and the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, published 15 November 2011, for what reasons the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs was not advised in writing of the Government’s reasons for rejecting the Council’s recommendations on nitrous oxide in advance of any public comment.

On 27 March we published the Anti-social Behaviour (ASB) Action Plan announcing our intention to control nitrous oxide as a Class C drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs were notified in writing of our intention not to accept recommendation 1 of their updated harms assessment in advance of the publication of the ASB Action Plan. In line with the Working Protocol, the letter set out the reasons behind our decision to reject their recommendation.