Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have reviewed the effectiveness of disqualification orders made under section 34 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 in cases involving sexual offences against animals.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government is committed to protecting animal welfare and ensuring those who abuse animals are held to account. Disqualification orders under section 34 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 were reviewed as part of the Post‑legislative assessment of the Act, which concluded it was operating as intended and strengthening enforcement powers. There are no plans to review their effectiveness specifically in cases involving sexual offences against animals

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government for each of the past five years, how many prosecutions and convictions have been secured under section 69 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 relating to animal sexual abuse; how these figures compare with prosecutions and convictions for extreme pornographic images depicting animal sexual abuse; and what steps they are taking to address the disparity between the number of image-based cases and the number of associated perpetrators brought to justice.

Answered by Baroness Levitt - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on prosecutions and convictions in criminal courts in England and Wales in the Outcomes by Offences data tool. This includes offences under section 69 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and section 63(7)(d) of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. They can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.

The following tables provide the number of prosecutions and convictions for the offences under section 69 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and section 63(7)(d) of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008.

Table 1: Number of prosecutions and convictions for offences under section 69 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 in criminal courts, England and Wales, year ending June 2021 to year ending June 2025[note 1][note 2]

Source: Court Proceedings Database

Table 2: Number of prosecutions and convictions for Possession of extreme pornographic images - a person performing an act of intercourse or oral sex with an animal (whether dead or alive) (bestiality) in criminal courts, England and Wales, year ending June 2021 to year ending June 2025[note 1][note 2]

Source: Court Proceedings Database

Note 1: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

Note 2: These figures are presented on a principal-offence basis - ie. reporting information relating to the most serious offence that a defendant was dealt with for. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.

There are arrangements in place for cross-agency information sharing in the criminal justice system. All offenders subject to Notification Requirements will be managed under Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). MAPPA is a process through which the Police, Probation and Prison Services work with other agencies to assess and manage the risks posed by individuals convicted of serious violent, sexual and terrorism offences living in the community. This can include those who have committed the section 69 offence.

Where there is a conviction that is domestic abuse related but does not automatically qualify for MAPPA, practitioners are required to consider discretionary MAPPA management.

The Government is committed to protecting animals and holding those who abuse animals to account.

We keep the criminal law under review, including reviewing relevant or emerging information, such as any evidence of correlation between animal sexual abuse, child sexual abuse and domestic abuse.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the correlation between animal sexual abuse, child sexual abuse, and domestic abuse; and what steps they are taking to ensure cross-agency information-sharing.

Answered by Baroness Levitt - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on prosecutions and convictions in criminal courts in England and Wales in the Outcomes by Offences data tool. This includes offences under section 69 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and section 63(7)(d) of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. They can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.

The following tables provide the number of prosecutions and convictions for the offences under section 69 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and section 63(7)(d) of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008.

Table 1: Number of prosecutions and convictions for offences under section 69 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 in criminal courts, England and Wales, year ending June 2021 to year ending June 2025[note 1][note 2]

Source: Court Proceedings Database

Table 2: Number of prosecutions and convictions for Possession of extreme pornographic images - a person performing an act of intercourse or oral sex with an animal (whether dead or alive) (bestiality) in criminal courts, England and Wales, year ending June 2021 to year ending June 2025[note 1][note 2]

Source: Court Proceedings Database

Note 1: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

Note 2: These figures are presented on a principal-offence basis - ie. reporting information relating to the most serious offence that a defendant was dealt with for. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.

There are arrangements in place for cross-agency information sharing in the criminal justice system. All offenders subject to Notification Requirements will be managed under Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). MAPPA is a process through which the Police, Probation and Prison Services work with other agencies to assess and manage the risks posed by individuals convicted of serious violent, sexual and terrorism offences living in the community. This can include those who have committed the section 69 offence.

Where there is a conviction that is domestic abuse related but does not automatically qualify for MAPPA, practitioners are required to consider discretionary MAPPA management.

The Government is committed to protecting animals and holding those who abuse animals to account.

We keep the criminal law under review, including reviewing relevant or emerging information, such as any evidence of correlation between animal sexual abuse, child sexual abuse and domestic abuse.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how the revised international education strategy will measure the contribution of transnational education in relation to schools.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The government is reviewing the UK’s International Education Strategy to ensure it continues to reflect the priorities of the entire education sector, including transnational education for schools. The International Education Strategy will continue to support the growth of exports across the education sector, including schools. The strategy will be published in the coming months.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the revised international education strategy will include an assessment of the overall contribution of overseas pupils studying at independent schools; and whether the strategy will aim to increase the number of pupils studying at independent schools in the UK.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The government is reviewing the UK’s International Education Strategy to ensure it continues to reflect the priorities of the entire education sector, including schools. The International Education Strategy will continue to support the growth of exports across the education sector, including schools. The strategy will be published in the coming months.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to publish a revised international education strategy.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The government is currently reviewing its International Education Strategy to ensure that it continues be an effective tool in increasing the value of education exports across the UK and reflects the priorities of the education sector. The strategy will be published in the coming months.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the economic impact of overseas pupils studying at independent schools in the UK.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The department estimates that overseas pupils at UK independent schools contributed approximately £0.98 billion to the UK economy in 2022.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of section 69 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 in addressing acts of animal sexual abuse, including non-penetrative and coercive activity; and, for each of the past five years, how many cases of potential animal sexual abuse were reported to the police, how many resulted in a charge, and how many led to a successful prosecution.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The number of offences of intercourse with an animal recorded by police each year since 2020 varies from 40 to 57. Specifically, police recorded 40 of these crimes in 2020, 48 in 2021, 49 in 2022, 57 in 2023, 51 in 2024, 54 in the year up to June 2024 and 42 in the year up to June 2025. The proportion of recorded cases that resulted in a charge or summons varied from 20% to 2%.

The Home Office do not hold information on non-penetrative or coercive activity against animals.

The court proceedings database shows that the number of individuals proceeded against by criminal courts where the offence of intercourse with an animal was the principal offence was 4 in the year to June 2021, 1 in the years to June 2022, 2023 and 2024, and 0 in the year to June 2025.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in the implementation of the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023, and when they plan to lay secondary legislation under that Act.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Animals (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 provides a framework for the introduction of future bans on the advertising and offering for sale, in England and Northern Ireland, of low-welfare animal activities abroad.

We continue to engage with stakeholders including the tourism industry and animal welfare groups to explore both legislative and non-legislative options to stop the advertising of low-welfare animal activities abroad and will be setting out next steps in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made an assessment of the annual revenue earned in the UK by global technology platforms from fraudulent advertising.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The information requested is not currently available from published statistics.

Under the Online Safety Act, the largest social media and search services will soon be required to address fraudulent adverts on their platforms. Ofcom are due to consult on these duties next year.

Companies in the sector are also working with the government through the Online Advertising Taskforce, to enhance voluntarily initiatives to tackle the drivers of illegal advertising.