Agenda item

Mark Norris, LGA Senior Adviser introduced the report and informed Members that a number of LGA Members had raised the issue of ‘legal highs’ being sold in their authority area. The Home Office had commissioned a review into the UK’s response to this issue, which the LGA had been invited to contribute. There was a link across to health and in particular health and well-being boards.

Members agreed that this was a serious issue and noted the 79 per cent increase in deaths in the UK from the previous year. There was concern that mixing these ‘legal highs’ with alcohol further exacerbated the problems and led to people becoming violent.

Some Members felt it was important that further research into the area was key, particularly getting further insight from authorities across the country on their experiences with ‘legal highs’. In addition, now that public health was now part of local government it was crucial to look at the long term impacts of this on people’s health.  Regarding enforcement Members noted that resources in trading standards teams were limited

Councillor Fox commented that he had been to a workshop run by West Yorkshire Police who were concerned with the increase in the use of ‘legal highs’ and the consequences for the community as a whole. It was important moving forward that young people were educated on the effects of ‘legal highs’.

There was consensus amongst the Board that it was important to look at examples from America and also from New Zealand in to how they tackled the issue. There was the opportunity to work closely with licensing authorities and also community safety partnerships.

Councillor Spicer commented that the Home Office had provided access to free testing of ‘legal highs’ to assist trading standards in identifying if a product was a controlled drug, and this funding needed to continue. There also need to be action around the labelling of the products and greater involvement of the police around enforcement activity.

Councillors agreed there were a number of actions for officers to take forward, including exploring local authorities’ work and experience was.

Mark Norris also updated the Board on the group set up by the Home Office, which involved civil servants from the Home Office, Ministry of Justice, the UK Border Agency, police officers from the Metropolitan Police and National Crime Agency, academics, charities and the chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. Members requested that future engagement with the panel be considered by Lead Members.

Action

To contact local authorities to gather their experiences.

To update Members on the work of the new group set up by the Home Office.

Decision

Members noted the issues set out in the report.