Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to tackle the involvement of sex trafficking in the sex and prostitution industries; what assessment she has made of regional disparities in the quantom of that involvement; and what steps she is taking to help protect female sex workers.

To support police forces in England and Wales tackle all forms of modern slavery, the Government has provided £8.5m of additional funding to provide bespoke and dedicated modern slavery capabilities, including intelligence and training functions.

We recognise the need to gather a robust evidence base on the scale and nature of all forms of prostitution and sex work in England and Wales, including geographical variations. The Home Office has begun the process of commissioning this research, with academics and researchers invited to bid to develop a comprehensive understanding of the nature, prevalence and composition of prostitution and sex work in England and Wales.

The Government is committed to protecting those selling sex from harm and enabling the police to target those who exploit vulnerable people involved in prostitution. We have provided £389,000 to organisations which help those who want to leave prostitution and sex work. Merseyside PCC have also been awarded £650,000 from the VAWG Transformation Fund to provide a victim-focused service for sex workers who are victims, or at risk of sexual or domestic violence and abuse, exploitation or human trafficking.