Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle online grooming of children.

We are committed to working across government to take robust action to better safeguard children from all forms of child sexual abuse, including online grooming, and to ensure victims and survivors receive appropriate care and support while perpetrators face the full force of the law.

The Home Office funds a network of Undercover Online Officers (UCOLs) in Regional Organised Crime Units who deploy online to identify and pursue offenders seeking to groom or otherwise sexually abuse children.

Through the Online Safety Act, for the first time, tech companies will be held accountable to an independent regulator to keep their users safe. All in scope companies will need to take action to prevent the use of their services for criminal activity. Child sexual exploitation and abuse is categorised as priority illegal content, which includes grooming. In addition, officials engage directly with a range of tech companies to ensure they are taking a safety-by-design approach and are tackling the risks of child sexual abuse and exploitation on their platforms including grooming.