Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to prevent deaths from (a) synthetic drugs and (b) any other drugs at festivals in summer 2024.

The Department is planning to write, jointly with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, to local authorities, Directors of Public Health, and police forces and their partners, to provide planning advice for festivals over the summer. The guidance included in this letter will help minimise the risk of harm to individuals around such events, and will include specific reference to synthetic drugs.

The Government recognises the potential harm reduction benefits of back-of-house drug checking facilities (DCFs) within this type of event. Back-of-house DCFs are those which test surrendered or confiscated drugs, but do not return the drugs to the individual or give individualised information on the content of the drugs, to avoid sending a message that taking any illegal drug can be safe. Instead, they enable localised public alerts if toxic or extremely dangerous drugs are detected. Organisations wishing to deliver back-of-house DCFs will need to apply for a Home Office licence and operate responsibly, in line with Government policy, to ensure that they discourage drug use and signpost potential users to treatment and support.