Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 12 December 2016 (HL Deb, col 1021) that Her Majesty's Government was committed to addressing historical wrongs experienced by homosexual and bisexual men who were convicted of actions that are no longer crimes, what plans they have to use the power contained in section 166 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017 to expand the list of now repealed or abolished offences contained in section 92 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 in order that gay people previously cautioned for, or convicted of, offences, such as solicitation, can apply for a disregard and, if successful, obtain a pardon.

The Government is committed to upholding the intent and purpose of the disregard scheme and to working closely with counterparts across government, particularly the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Defence, to explore the feasibility of bringing further offences within scope.

Work to identify what further offences might be added under the provisions enabling the Secretary of State to extend, by regulations, the list of offences currently eligible for a disregard under the provisions of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 must be completed before any proposed amendments can be brought forward. This work is ongoing and the Government remains fully committed to considering any appropriate proposals, in due course.