Carolyn Harris

The Government is committed to keeping children safe online. Our priority is the effective implementation of the Online Safety Act so that children benefit from its wide-reaching protections.

The Act requires that all in scope services that allow pornography use highly effective age assurance to prevent children from accessing it, including services that host user-generated content, and services which publish pornography. Ofcom has robust enforcement powers available against companies who fail to fulfil their duties.

Under the Online Safety Act platforms must proactively tackle the most harmful illegal content including extreme pornography, much of which disproportionately affects women and girls. The Act requires services in scope to understand risks from illegal content online and take mitigating action.

Separate to provisions in the Online Safety Act, the Independent Pornography Review, led by Independent Lead Reviewer Baroness Gabby Bertin will explore the effectiveness of regulation, legislation and the law enforcement response to pornography. The government expects the Review to present its final report by the end of the year.

Work continues to improve health outcomes for women, including the £25 million women’s health hubs pilot, new NICE guidance on endometriosis and menopause and extending the Baby Loss Certificate service.

The requested data is not currently available in a verified and published form. Other data on modern slavery can be found at National Referral Mechanism statistics - GOV.UK.

From January 2020 to September 2024, there were 70,790 referrals into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). These have seen a continued increase.

In the same period, there were 51,850 positive reasonable grounds decisions made, and 34,254 conclusive grounds decisions made. Of which 24,233 were positive and 10,021 were negative. These statistics may change as new information becomes available, or if decisions are reconsidered.

With regards to the impact of recent legislation, the Illegal Migration Act 2023 has not been commenced in full, and the Government has made clear that the migration partnership with Rwanda will end. Any legislative plans resulting from this decision will be set out in due course.

This Government has been clear that identifying and supporting victims effectively is a key priority – that is why we have invested in 200 new decision makers to clear the backlog of cases and reduce wait times for victims.

The Home Office publishes modern slavery statistics on a quarterly basis and holds all policies and procedures under review to ensure they are effective in delivering the aims of the Government. As part of our New Plan for Immigration, we will take forward an evaluation workstream to understand the impact being achieved.

From January 2020 to September 2024, there were 70,790 referrals into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). These have seen a continued increase.

In the same period, there were 51,850 positive reasonable grounds decisions made, and 34,254 conclusive grounds decisions made. Of which 24,233 were positive and 10,021 were negative. These statistics may change as new information becomes available, or if decisions are reconsidered.

With regards to the impact of recent legislation, the Illegal Migration Act 2023 has not been commenced in full, and the Government has made clear that the migration partnership with Rwanda will end. Any legislative plans resulting from this decision will be set out in due course.

This Government has been clear that identifying and supporting victims effectively is a key priority - that is why we have invested in 200 new decision makers to clear the backlog of cases and reduce wait times for victims.

The Home Office publishes modern slavery statistics on a quarterly basis and holds all policies and procedures under review to ensure they are effective in delivering the aims of the Government. As part of our New Plan for Immigration, we will take forward an evaluation workstream to understand the impact being achieved.

From January 2020 to September 2024, there were 70,790 referrals into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). These have seen a continued increase.

In the same period, there were 51,850 positive reasonable grounds decisions made, and 34,254 conclusive grounds decisions made. Of which 24,233 were positive and 10,021 were negative. These statistics may change as new information becomes available, or if decisions are reconsidered.

With regards to the impact of recent legislation, the Illegal Migration Act 2023 has not been commenced in full, and the Government has made clear that the migration partnership with Rwanda will end. Any legislative plans resulting from this decision will be set out in due course.

This Government has been clear that identifying and supporting victims effectively is a key priority - that is why we have invested in 200 new decision makers to clear the backlog of cases and reduce wait times for victims.

The Home Office publishes modern slavery statistics on a quarterly basis and holds all policies and procedures under review to ensure they are effective in delivering the aims of the Government. As part of our New Plan for Immigration, we will take forward an evaluation workstream to understand the impact being achieved.

The trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation is a truly horrific crime. This Government has set out a mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, and we will use all of our levers available to deliver.

The Government is working closely with law enforcement to tackle the drivers of trafficking for sexual exploitation, including through operational intensifications to target 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 in 2023, sexual exploitation accounted for 10% (1,679) of all referrals, a 2% increase from the previous year, with 9% (1,470) of referrals relating to women.

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.

To help support victims, we are providing £1.36m over three years to Changing Lives for their Net-Reach project, which provides early intervention and targeted support for women and girls at high-risk of commercial exploitation. We are also providing £378,811 to Trevi Women who provide trauma-informed support to women wishing to exit on-street prostitution.

In addition, 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.

Home Office Ministers regularly meet with stakeholders, including NGOs and law enforcement partners, to promote the better identification and prosecution of perpetrators, and to enhance support for victims who are trapped within commercial sexual exploitation under the guise of prostitution.

The Government will set out policies in this area in due course.