Question reference: S6W-14205
- Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 20 January 2023
-
Current status: Answered by Keith Brown on 2 February 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to prevent spiking incidents at festivals and other outdoor events and gatherings.
Answer
The Scottish Government held several roundtable meetings to bring together partners including representatives from the major events sector to discuss the prevalence of spiking and a range of initiatives and information available on spiking, which they are adopting.
With concerts, festivals and other events resuming following the pandemic, Police Scotland have been working with partners to identify appropriate vehicles for the delivery of the key messaging. For example, as an interim measure and in advance of the Harry Styles concert at Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow on 11 June 2022, an overview of ByStander theory was provided to the event organiser for inclusion in Steward’s briefings, in lieu of being able to facilitate a full ByStander awareness session. Feedback from this approach was very positive and Police Scotland rolled this out nationally for Event Policing Leads in advance of a number of events scheduled over the summer 2022 period.
We have also worked with members of the roundtable to bring together the range of initiatives and key messaging on safer.scot to reassure the public that there is a coordinated response to the dangers of spiking, in whatever form it might take.