Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2024 to Question 23443 on Prostitution: Internet, whether his Department has received legal advice on the legality of the operations of adult services websites.

The acts of buying and selling sex are not in themselves illegal in England and Wales. Adult Service Websites are online advertising directories that provide a platform on which legitimate sex workers and escorts can advertise their services and are legal under current prostitution legislation.

Ministers responsible for the Safeguarding portfolio have met the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead for sex work five times since 2017; at least two of those meetings were conducted virtually. The Home Office works closely with the police to cut crime and protect vulnerable people. Officials regularly meet representatives of NPCC portfolios as part of their routine engagement with the police.