Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to prevent children being exposed to pornography.

Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Online Safety Act imposes duties on user-to-user services and publishers of pornography to prevent children encountering pornographic content online using highly effective age assurance.

Ofcom can enforce duties on publishers of pornography from early 2025. The duties for user-to-user services will come into effect by summer 2025.

Additionally, the Independent Pornography Review will assess the effectiveness of pornography legislation, regulation and enforcement. We expect that the independent review will finalise its recommendations in the coming months.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to tackle the harms of pornography.

Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Online Safety Act imposes duties on user-to-user services and publishers of pornography to prevent children encountering pornographic content online using highly effective age assurance.

Ofcom can enforce duties on publishers of pornography from early 2025. The duties for user-to-user services will come into effect by summer 2025.

Additionally, the Independent Pornography Review will assess the effectiveness of pornography legislation, regulation and enforcement. We expect that the independent review will finalise its recommendations in the coming months.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce demand for trafficking for sexual exploitation.

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

The trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation is a truly horrific crime. The scale of violence against women and girls in our country is intolerable and this Government will treat it as the national emergency that it is, with a commitment to halve violence against women and girls, underpinned by a new VAWG strategy to be published next year.

The Government is working closely with law enforcement to tackle the drivers of trafficking for sexual exploitation, including through law enforcement operational intensifications aimed at tackling modern slavery threats, and targeting prolific perpetrators.

We have several ways to estimate the scale of sexual exploitation. Victims of sexual exploitation make up a significant proportion of referrals to the National Referral Mechanism (the framework for identifying and referring potential victims of modern slavery to appropriate support). The most recent statistics show that between July to September 2024, sexual exploitation (either partly or wholly) accounted for 17% (697) of all referrals sent to police forces in England and Wales for investigation. Of these, the majority were for females (76%; 528).

Available academic research on prostitution highlights the challenges in estimating prevalence. Research conducted by the University of Bristol focusing on England and Wales was unable to identify a single prevalence estimate. However, it assessed a number of existing national estimates made over the last 20 years which ranged from 35,882 to 104,964, across England and Wales.

Online platforms are a significant enabler of sexual exploitation. The Online Safety Act 2023 sets out priority offences, including sexual exploitation and human trafficking offences, and companies will need to adopt measures and put in place systems and processes to identify, assess and address these offences based on a risk assessment.

The Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract provides support to adult potential and confirmed victims of modern slavery in England and Wales. This support includes financial support and a support worker to help them access wider services, including medical treatment, legal aid, legal representatives, and legal advice.

The Government will continue to keep policies to tackle sexual exploitation under review.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the scale of commercial sexual exploitation in England and Wales.

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

The trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation is a truly horrific crime. The scale of violence against women and girls in our country is intolerable and this Government will treat it as the national emergency that it is, with a commitment to halve violence against women and girls, underpinned by a new VAWG strategy to be published next year.

The Government is working closely with law enforcement to tackle the drivers of trafficking for sexual exploitation, including through law enforcement operational intensifications aimed at tackling modern slavery threats, and targeting prolific perpetrators.

We have several ways to estimate the scale of sexual exploitation. Victims of sexual exploitation make up a significant proportion of referrals to the National Referral Mechanism (the framework for identifying and referring potential victims of modern slavery to appropriate support). The most recent statistics show that between July to September 2024, sexual exploitation (either partly or wholly) accounted for 17% (697) of all referrals sent to police forces in England and Wales for investigation. Of these, the majority were for females (76%; 528).

Available academic research on prostitution highlights the challenges in estimating prevalence. Research conducted by the University of Bristol focusing on England and Wales was unable to identify a single prevalence estimate. However, it assessed a number of existing national estimates made over the last 20 years which ranged from 35,882 to 104,964, across England and Wales.

Online platforms are a significant enabler of sexual exploitation. The Online Safety Act 2023 sets out priority offences, including sexual exploitation and human trafficking offences, and companies will need to adopt measures and put in place systems and processes to identify, assess and address these offences based on a risk assessment.

The Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract provides support to adult potential and confirmed victims of modern slavery in England and Wales. This support includes financial support and a support worker to help them access wider services, including medical treatment, legal aid, legal representatives, and legal advice.

The Government will continue to keep policies to tackle sexual exploitation under review.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what support they provide to help victims of sexual exploitation exit prostitution.

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

The trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation is a truly horrific crime. The scale of violence against women and girls in our country is intolerable and this Government will treat it as the national emergency that it is, with a commitment to halve violence against women and girls, underpinned by a new VAWG strategy to be published next year.

The Government is working closely with law enforcement to tackle the drivers of trafficking for sexual exploitation, including through law enforcement operational intensifications aimed at tackling modern slavery threats, and targeting prolific perpetrators.

We have several ways to estimate the scale of sexual exploitation. Victims of sexual exploitation make up a significant proportion of referrals to the National Referral Mechanism (the framework for identifying and referring potential victims of modern slavery to appropriate support). The most recent statistics show that between July to September 2024, sexual exploitation (either partly or wholly) accounted for 17% (697) of all referrals sent to police forces in England and Wales for investigation. Of these, the majority were for females (76%; 528).

Available academic research on prostitution highlights the challenges in estimating prevalence. Research conducted by the University of Bristol focusing on England and Wales was unable to identify a single prevalence estimate. However, it assessed a number of existing national estimates made over the last 20 years which ranged from 35,882 to 104,964, across England and Wales.

Online platforms are a significant enabler of sexual exploitation. The Online Safety Act 2023 sets out priority offences, including sexual exploitation and human trafficking offences, and companies will need to adopt measures and put in place systems and processes to identify, assess and address these offences based on a risk assessment.

The Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract provides support to adult potential and confirmed victims of modern slavery in England and Wales. This support includes financial support and a support worker to help them access wider services, including medical treatment, legal aid, legal representatives, and legal advice.

The Government will continue to keep policies to tackle sexual exploitation under review.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to prevent organised crime groups advertising victims of trafficking and other sexual exploitation offences on websites advertising prostitution.

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

The trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation is a truly horrific crime. The scale of violence against women and girls in our country is intolerable and this Government will treat it as the national emergency that it is, with a commitment to halve violence against women and girls, underpinned by a new VAWG strategy to be published next year.

The Government is working closely with law enforcement to tackle the drivers of trafficking for sexual exploitation, including through law enforcement operational intensifications aimed at tackling modern slavery threats, and targeting prolific perpetrators.

We have several ways to estimate the scale of sexual exploitation. Victims of sexual exploitation make up a significant proportion of referrals to the National Referral Mechanism (the framework for identifying and referring potential victims of modern slavery to appropriate support). The most recent statistics show that between July to September 2024, sexual exploitation (either partly or wholly) accounted for 17% (697) of all referrals sent to police forces in England and Wales for investigation. Of these, the majority were for females (76%; 528).

Available academic research on prostitution highlights the challenges in estimating prevalence. Research conducted by the University of Bristol focusing on England and Wales was unable to identify a single prevalence estimate. However, it assessed a number of existing national estimates made over the last 20 years which ranged from 35,882 to 104,964, across England and Wales.

Online platforms are a significant enabler of sexual exploitation. The Online Safety Act 2023 sets out priority offences, including sexual exploitation and human trafficking offences, and companies will need to adopt measures and put in place systems and processes to identify, assess and address these offences based on a risk assessment.

The Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract provides support to adult potential and confirmed victims of modern slavery in England and Wales. This support includes financial support and a support worker to help them access wider services, including medical treatment, legal aid, legal representatives, and legal advice.

The Government will continue to keep policies to tackle sexual exploitation under review.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the proposal to cover the ancient Roman site at Richborough with solar panels.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Richborough Roman Fort is a scheduled ancient monument protected under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. We are not aware of any application for solar panels on the site, but are aware of an ongoing planning application in the vicinity of the ancient monument, which is for the Local Planning Authority to decide. It would not be appropriate for the government to comment on an individual planning case such as this, as it may come before Government Ministers for a decision at a later date.