Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when those parts of the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 which have not come into force are expected to come into force; and what the reason is for the time taken to bring all provisions of that Act into force.

We expect to commence the Psychoactive Substances Act in its entirety in the spring. In line with the advice of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, we are in the final stages of putting in place a programme of testing to demonstrate the psychoactivity of a substance prior to commencement of the Act. The timing of commencement has always been subject to consideration of all the activity necessary across the UK for the provisions to come into force