Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many online child sexual abuse offences have been recorded in England and Wales in the last 3 years.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Online child sexual abuse offences are captured in police recorded crime via an online crime flag being applied to a series of offences deemed most likely to be child sexual abuse. This includes contact sexual offences and obscene publications offences which act as a proxy for indecent images of children (IIOC) offences.
In April 2015, it became mandatory for all forces to return quarterly information on the number of crimes flagged as being committed online as part of the Annual Data Requirement (ADR). Since April 2024 this has been supported by the National Data Quality Improvement Service (NDQIS) which aims to improve the quality and consistency of flagging. Data released prior to 2024 are not directly comparable due to the move to NDQIS.
The online crime flag refers to any crime committed either in full, or in part, through use of online methods or platforms. The online crime flag helps provide a national and local picture of how internet and digital communications technology are being used to commit crimes, and an understanding of the prominence of certain crimes that are happening online, compared to offline.
An offence should be flagged where online methods or internet-based activities were used to facilitate the offence (e.g. through email, social media, websites, messaging platforms, gaming platforms, or smart devices). In April 2024, recording guidelines were amended to clarify that offences committed via SMS text messages or online-platform-enabled phone calls should also be flagged.
These data are published quarterly via the Office for National Statistics (ONS), originally in ‘Other related tables’ and now in ‘Appendix tables’ as per links below.
Child sexual offences | Proportion | Obscene publications offences | Proportion | |
Year to September 2025 – Appendix Table C5 | 14,515 | 23% | 32,191 | 75% |
Year to September 2024 – Appendix table C5 | 13,987 | 23% | 28,269 | 71% |
Year to September 2023 – Other related tables, F11 | 12,568 | 20% | 26,024 | 64% |
Note: Data across the year are not comparable due to continued improvements to the processing of online flags.
The Government is committed to tackling all forms of child sexual abuse and exploitation and is committed to taking robust action to better safeguard children, ensuring victims and survivors receive appropriate care and support and pursuing offenders and bringing them to justice.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of applying an interest rate of RPI plus 3% to Plan 2 student loans for graduates earning over £50,270 on the disposable income of those graduates.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Plan 2 student loans were designed and implemented by previous governments. Students in England starting degrees under this government have different arrangements.
Plan 2 loans interest rates are applied at the Retail Price Index (RPI) only, then variable up to RPI +3% depending on earnings. Interest rates do not impact monthly repayments made by student loan borrowers, which stay at a constant rate of 9% above an earnings threshold to protect lower earners. If a borrower’s salary remains the same, their monthly repayments will also stay the same. Any outstanding loan and interest is written off at the end of the loan term, and debit is never passed on to family members or descendants.
Asked by: Richard Quigley (Labour - Isle of Wight West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the decision not to temporarily exempt the Isle of Wight from the maritime expansion of the Emissions Trading Scheme on the cost of Isle of Wight ferries.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government assessed the expansion of the United Kingdom Emissions Trading Scheme to domestic maritime on a scheme wide basis rather than for individual routes.
The Impact Assessment concluded that the policy is not expected to materially affect the competitiveness of ports or operators, and that applying the scheme consistently to domestic voyages and at berth emissions does not create a credible incentive for traffic diversion.
The Government recognises the importance of ferry services to the Isle of Wight. Any potential impacts of the scheme on these services will be considered in a review of the UK ETS Maritime regime in 2028.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce industrial electricity prices.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Our mission for Clean Power by 2030 will get us off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel prices, to cut bills for businesses and households for good.
The Government remains committed to supporting industrial electrification and addressing barriers to investment, as highlighted in the 2023 call for evidence on enabling industrial electrification.
We are continuing to develop policies to bring down electricity costs relative to gas for the non-domestic sector and intend to consult on options to reduce costs and make low-carbon heat the economically rational choice. Stakeholders will therefore have a voice in shaping future electrification policy.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Clean Heat Market Mechanism on the costs of installing new gas boilers.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Clean Heat Market Mechanism does not require a change in the price of fossil fuel boilers.
The Government took steps to change earlier proposals for the design of the Clean Heat Market Mechanism ahead of its launch in April 2025 to reduce the potential impact on boiler manufacturers and provide them more time to scale up supply chains.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 13 January (HL13304), what plans there are for co-operation between the Independent Review for Mental Health Conditions, ADHD and Autism and the Young People and Work Report led by Alan Milburn.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Independent Review for Mental Health Conditions, ADHD, and Autism, and the Young People and Work Report led by Alan Milburn are complementary. The chairs and the secretariats are in regular discussion to ensure cooperation.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he expects the Health and Safety Executive to launch a public consultation as part of the statutory process for the potential renewal of the approval of glyphosate for use in Great Britain.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) expects to launch the statutory public consultation on the assessment of the renewal of the approval of glyphosate in Summer 2026. Further information can be found here Active substance renewal: glyphosate - HSE
The consultation will be hosted on the HSE consultation website, and they will announce the start of the consultation via their e-bulletin service. In line with the regulations, the consultation will last for 60 days.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for its policies of the preliminary findings of the ELSA Study that screens children for Type 1 diabetes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is guided by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent scientific advisory committee which makes its recommendations based on internationally recognised criteria and a rigorous evidence review and consultation process. It is only where the committee is confident that screening would provide more good than harm that a screening programme is recommended, as all medical interventions carry an inherent risk.
The UK NSC is aware of the ELSA study and looks forward to receiving the results of this study when the trial is complete.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of reported incidents of violence against women and girls in England and Wales.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 28th January is attached.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether departments have been asked to make (a) operational and (b) efficiency savings to fund the new Digital ID programme.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Costs to departments in this Spending Review period will be met within the existing Spending Review settlement.