Asked by: Baroness Bertin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many offences relating to online fantasy discussions depicting serious violence and child sexual abuse have been successfully prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act 1959 and the Communications Act 2003 in the last ten years.
Answered by Lord Lemos - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Online discussions about violence and child sexual abuse (including fantasies) can be prosecuted under different criminal offences, including the Obscene Publications Act 1959. Offences under the Communications Act 2003 are also available. Decisions on whether to prosecute are for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which is independent of government and makes such decisions on a case-by-case basis. However, the Government recognises concerns about this issue, and continues to keep the criminal law, including the law on child sexual abuse, under review.
The Ministry of Justice publishes information on prosecutions for a wide range of offences including prosecutions under the Obscene Publications Act 1959 and the Communications Act 2003 in the Outcomes by Offence data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal justice statistics quarterly - GOV.UK
Data held centrally does not record information relating to the circumstances of the offending including whether offences originated from "online fantasy discussions depicting serious violence and child sexual abuse”.
Asked by: Baroness Bertin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the current criminal law in prosecutions relating to online fantasy discussions depicting serious violence and child sexual abuse.
Answered by Lord Lemos - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Online discussions about violence and child sexual abuse (including fantasies) can be prosecuted under different criminal offences, including the Obscene Publications Act 1959. Offences under the Communications Act 2003 are also available. Decisions on whether to prosecute are for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which is independent of government and makes such decisions on a case-by-case basis. However, the Government recognises concerns about this issue, and continues to keep the criminal law, including the law on child sexual abuse, under review.
The Ministry of Justice publishes information on prosecutions for a wide range of offences including prosecutions under the Obscene Publications Act 1959 and the Communications Act 2003 in the Outcomes by Offence data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal justice statistics quarterly - GOV.UK
Data held centrally does not record information relating to the circumstances of the offending including whether offences originated from "online fantasy discussions depicting serious violence and child sexual abuse”.
Asked by: Baroness Bertin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the proposed new sections 67A and 67D of the Criminal Justice Act 2008, as provided for in section 104 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026, will come into effect.
Answered by Lord Lemos - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Crime and Policing Act 2026 contains a wide range of measures to strengthen the criminal law. The Government is working with law enforcement and other partners and will bring the remaining provisions into force as quickly as practicable.
We are progressing work to bring these offences into force this autumn, balancing speed with operational considerations and wider system impacts. We will clearly communicate to the public when these measures are commenced.
Asked by: Baroness Bertin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Lloyd of Effra on 28 October (HL10895), when will they publish a formal response to the Independent Review of Pornography, Creating a Safer World–the Challenge of Regulating Online Pornography (HC 592), published on 27 February; and whether its recommendations will feature in their Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Home Secretary announced in Parliament the decision to continue the Pornography Review, and we are grateful for Baroness Bertin’s work.
We welcome the findings of the Independent Pornography Review and the valuable insights it has provided into the online pornography landscape. The Review highlights a set of complex and challenging policy and regulatory issues.
Where relevant to violence against women and girls they are being considered by the Home Office in the development of the new Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, which aims to halve violence against women and girls over the next decade. The government will provide a further update on how it is tackling the issues raised in the Review as part of its mission to tackle VAWG in due course. The VAWG strategy sits with Home Office and DSIT has been feeding in.
Asked by: Baroness Bertin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the national police database and its ability to analyse the link between (1) exposure to violent and misogynistic pornography, and (2) violent offences against women and girls.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Police National Database provides a joined-up view of vital intelligence gathered nationwide and made available to Policing and law enforcement agencies. Its data is uploaded regularly by police forces and law enforcement agencies.
PND searches can link people, addresses, phones and vehicles and can be used to investigate individual offenders or crimes, or to build intelligence about networks or gangs involved in criminal activity.
Where people are suspected of crimes involving obscene publications, indecency or violence against women and girls, the details would be shown on their record on PND. If their record includes intelligence indicating both exposure to violent and misogynistic pornography and violence against women and girls, further investigation could follow to establish whether there was a link.
Asked by: Baroness Bertin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the findings of the Children's Commissioner's report ‘A lot of it is actually just abuse' - Young people and pornography, published in January 2023, what progress they have made in reducing the harms to adolescents and children caused by violent photography, including non-fatal strangulation and incest in pornography.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
The Independent Pornography Review was a thorough assessment of a complicated and multi-faceted set of issues. Government departments are undertaking detailed work to consider how best to tackle the important set of issues raised.
The Government has recently announced that pornography depicting acts of strangulation will be made illegal through Crime and Policing Bill. The Online Safety Act will prevent children from accessing pornography, with duties requiring highly effective age assurance in force from 25 July.
Ofcom's draft guidance summarises measures for platforms to tackle the abuse that women and girls disproportionately face online. The finalised guidance will be published by the end of the year.
Asked by: Baroness Bertin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the draft guidance A safer life online for women and girls, published by Ofcom on 25 February under the Online Safety Act 2023; and what assessment they have made of whether there is a gap in the guidance on online pornography regulation.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
The Independent Pornography Review was a thorough assessment of a complicated and multi-faceted set of issues. Government departments are undertaking detailed work to consider how best to tackle the important set of issues raised.
The Government has recently announced that pornography depicting acts of strangulation will be made illegal through Crime and Policing Bill. The Online Safety Act will prevent children from accessing pornography, with duties requiring highly effective age assurance in force from 25 July.
Ofcom's draft guidance summarises measures for platforms to tackle the abuse that women and girls disproportionately face online. The finalised guidance will be published by the end of the year.
Asked by: Baroness Bertin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 15 May (HL7084), what is the timetable for implementing the recommendations of Creating a Safer World–the Challenge of Regulating Online Pornography (HC 592), published on 27 February.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
The Independent Pornography Review was a thorough assessment of a complicated and multi-faceted set of issues. Government departments are undertaking detailed work to consider how best to tackle the important set of issues raised.
The Government has recently announced that pornography depicting acts of strangulation will be made illegal through Crime and Policing Bill. The Online Safety Act will prevent children from accessing pornography, with duties requiring highly effective age assurance in force from 25 July.
Ofcom's draft guidance summarises measures for platforms to tackle the abuse that women and girls disproportionately face online. The finalised guidance will be published by the end of the year.
Asked by: Baroness Bertin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to address the £434 million funding gap for disabled children's social care identified in the research published by the Disabled Children's Partnership; and what plans they have to establish a disabled children's fund to improve early intervention services such as short breaks for disabled children.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
All children should have access to the support they need to keep them safe, provide them with a stable and nurturing home, and overcome challenges to achieve their potential. We do not recognise the figures provided in the Disabled Children’s Partnership report, however, in the Spending Round 2019, the government confirmed an additional £1 billion grant for adult and children’s social care in 2020-21. This is in addition to the continuation of all existing social care grants.
Local authorities’ core spending power is expected to rise from £46.2 billion to £49.1 billion in 2020-21. This is an estimated 4.3% increase in real terms.
Local authorities have the flexibility to make decisions based around their local needs. The statutory guidance, 'Working Together to Safeguard Children', sets out how local authorities should provide effective, evidence-based services to protect and promote the welfare of children, including disabled children. The guidance was updated on 4 July 2018 and states that it is better to provide services addressing needs early, rather than reacting later. The statutory duty to provide short breaks, introduced in 2011, falls on local authorities. The guidance is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-safeguard-children--2, and is attached.
Asked by: Baroness Bertin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what mechanisms they have in place to ensure that local authorities meet their statutory duty to provide short breaks for the carers of disabled children.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie
Since 2011, local authorities have been under a duty to provide a range of short breaks services. This requires them to consult upon and publish a short breaks duty statement. This should set out what is available locally, how to access these services, and any eligibility criteria.
To support this, the department made £800 million available in grants between April 2011 and March 2015, plus £80 million of capital funding to support new projects. The department offers support and challenge to help ensure local authorities meet their statutory requirements on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The department has funded innovative grants that promote best practice for delivering services; and continues to consider how we can best support local authorities who are working to deliver sustainable short breaks provision.
The government is able to oversee how much local authorities have planned to spend on short breaks provision through authorities’ annual section 251 returns. This information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/section-251-2016-to-2017 (see attached).
Departmental surveys such as the Children’s Services Omnibus gather information on SEND services provided by local authorities, including short breaks.
There are also opportunities through the new Ofsted and Care Quality Commission SEND inspection frameworks for local areas to consider how well they are providing for the education, health and care needs of those with SEND. This includes their need for short breaks services. A thematic ‘one year on’ report published by the two inspectorates in October 2017 found that ‘children and young people who have SEND and their families typically had good access to high-quality short breaks’ (attached).