Written questions by Pochin.

When joint inspections of compliance with the Victims’ Code for child sexual abuse cases will commence, in the context of the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

The Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Progress Update, published in April last year, set out clearly the actions the Government is taking to respond to IICSA’s recommendations. We are now delivering on those commitments overseen by an inter-ministerial group on child sexual abuse chaired by the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls.Child Protection AuthorityLast month the Government published a consultation seeking views on the creation of the new Child Protection Authority for England. A Government response will be published by summer 2026 including a plan to establish the new body, and further information on its scope, structure, activities and responsibilities.Mandatory ReportingMeasures to introduce a new statutory duty for individuals undertaking key roles with responsibility for children and young people in England to report sexual abuse, and to create a new criminal offence of obstructing an individual from making a report under the duty are included in the Crime and Policing Bill which is currently passing through Parliament.Disclosure and Barring ServiceThe Government, working with the DBS, has been driving forward a continuous programme of work to improve employers’ and stakeholders’ understanding of, and compliance with, their statutory duty to inform the DBS about individuals who may pose a risk of harm to children.That work has included bespoke workshops on the legal duty to refer, how to make a good quality barring referral and recognising when it may be appropriate to refer someone to DBS because of harm caused outside the workplace. Through these workshops the DBS has reached over 12,000 individuals working in safeguarding roles. Since the DBS Outreach Service was introduced the number of referrals has increased by over 50% in every region.On 18 December 2025, legislation was also brought into force which enabled ACRO Criminal Records Office to include an individual’s barred list status on its International Child Protection Certificate (ICPC) which is available to those who are looking to work with children overseas. By ensuring that overseas employers can also learn an individual’s barred list status, this will reduce the risk of those barred from working with children in the UK being able to do so overseas.Limitation Period for Civil ClaimsThe Government has committed to remove the three-year time limit for victims to bring civil child sexual abuse claims with the burden of proof falling on defendants (rather than victims, as at present) to show that a fair trial is not possible. This measure has been included in the Crime and Policing Bill which is currently passing through Parliament.Joint inspections of compliance with the Victims’ CodeThe Government has asked the Criminal Justice Joint Inspectorates (CJJI) to include an inspection on the experiences of victims of child sexual abuse in the criminal justice system, including compliance with the Victims’ Code, in their 2025-27 Business Plan. The inspection is expected to take place in summer 2026.Retention of RecordsThe Government is preparing regulations instructing the Information Commissioner’s Office to produce a code of practice on the retention of personal data relating to child sexual abuse. We intend to lay the regulations before the House as soon as possible. Once the regulations have been laid, the ICO will prepare the code following consultation with an expert panel.Single Core National DatasetThe Government is taking a range of steps to improve the consistency of data collection and sharing related to child sexual abuse. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, currently passing through Parliament, will introduce a new information sharing duty and a consistent identifier for children to improve opportunities for agencies to better share their information about children at risk of child sexual abuse. The Government also continues to support the independent Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse which, through it’s Trends in Official Data report and Data Insights Hub brings together local and national data on the prevalence, identification and response to child sexual abuse.National Public Awareness CampaignThe Government is committed to raising public awareness about the scale and impacts of child sexual abuse and is supporting several targeted programmes to achieve this, including the #LookCloser campaign, aiming to raise awareness of all forms of child exploitation, and the Lucy Faithfull Foundation’s Stop It Now! Online Deterrence campaign and its services to prevent offending. As part of the Government’s commitment to halve VAWG in a decade, we are also supporting the ENOUGH campaign, a long-term national programme of behaviour change campaigns to deliver a generational shift in the awareness, attitudes, and behaviours underpinning abuse.Expenditure on Services Supporting Victims and SurvivorsThe Government is committing significant funding towards specialist support for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. The Department for Health and Social Care has announced a £50m package to support expansion of the ‘Child House’ model, a key step in addressing IICSA’s recommendation on improving therapeutic support for children affected by sexual abuse. The Ministry of Justice will be investing £550 million in victim support services over the next three years – the biggest investment in victim support services to date - and the Home Office will also invest £2.59m this year to support frontline providers that offer nationally accessible services to support victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.

When enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks for individuals working with children overseas will be introduced, in the context of the recommendation of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

The Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Progress Update, published in April last year, set out clearly the actions the Government is taking to respond to IICSA’s recommendations. We are now delivering on those commitments overseen by an inter-ministerial group on child sexual abuse chaired by the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls.Child Protection AuthorityLast month the Government published a consultation seeking views on the creation of the new Child Protection Authority for England. A Government response will be published by summer 2026 including a plan to establish the new body, and further information on its scope, structure, activities and responsibilities.Mandatory ReportingMeasures to introduce a new statutory duty for individuals undertaking key roles with responsibility for children and young people in England to report sexual abuse, and to create a new criminal offence of obstructing an individual from making a report under the duty are included in the Crime and Policing Bill which is currently passing through Parliament.Disclosure and Barring ServiceThe Government, working with the DBS, has been driving forward a continuous programme of work to improve employers’ and stakeholders’ understanding of, and compliance with, their statutory duty to inform the DBS about individuals who may pose a risk of harm to children.That work has included bespoke workshops on the legal duty to refer, how to make a good quality barring referral and recognising when it may be appropriate to refer someone to DBS because of harm caused outside the workplace. Through these workshops the DBS has reached over 12,000 individuals working in safeguarding roles. Since the DBS Outreach Service was introduced the number of referrals has increased by over 50% in every region.On 18 December 2025, legislation was also brought into force which enabled ACRO Criminal Records Office to include an individual’s barred list status on its International Child Protection Certificate (ICPC) which is available to those who are looking to work with children overseas. By ensuring that overseas employers can also learn an individual’s barred list status, this will reduce the risk of those barred from working with children in the UK being able to do so overseas.Limitation Period for Civil ClaimsThe Government has committed to remove the three-year time limit for victims to bring civil child sexual abuse claims with the burden of proof falling on defendants (rather than victims, as at present) to show that a fair trial is not possible. This measure has been included in the Crime and Policing Bill which is currently passing through Parliament.Joint inspections of compliance with the Victims’ CodeThe Government has asked the Criminal Justice Joint Inspectorates (CJJI) to include an inspection on the experiences of victims of child sexual abuse in the criminal justice system, including compliance with the Victims’ Code, in their 2025-27 Business Plan. The inspection is expected to take place in summer 2026.Retention of RecordsThe Government is preparing regulations instructing the Information Commissioner’s Office to produce a code of practice on the retention of personal data relating to child sexual abuse. We intend to lay the regulations before the House as soon as possible. Once the regulations have been laid, the ICO will prepare the code following consultation with an expert panel.Single Core National DatasetThe Government is taking a range of steps to improve the consistency of data collection and sharing related to child sexual abuse. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, currently passing through Parliament, will introduce a new information sharing duty and a consistent identifier for children to improve opportunities for agencies to better share their information about children at risk of child sexual abuse. The Government also continues to support the independent Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse which, through it’s Trends in Official Data report and Data Insights Hub brings together local and national data on the prevalence, identification and response to child sexual abuse.National Public Awareness CampaignThe Government is committed to raising public awareness about the scale and impacts of child sexual abuse and is supporting several targeted programmes to achieve this, including the #LookCloser campaign, aiming to raise awareness of all forms of child exploitation, and the Lucy Faithfull Foundation’s Stop It Now! Online Deterrence campaign and its services to prevent offending. As part of the Government’s commitment to halve VAWG in a decade, we are also supporting the ENOUGH campaign, a long-term national programme of behaviour change campaigns to deliver a generational shift in the awareness, attitudes, and behaviours underpinning abuse.Expenditure on Services Supporting Victims and SurvivorsThe Government is committing significant funding towards specialist support for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. The Department for Health and Social Care has announced a £50m package to support expansion of the ‘Child House’ model, a key step in addressing IICSA’s recommendation on improving therapeutic support for children affected by sexual abuse. The Ministry of Justice will be investing £550 million in victim support services over the next three years – the biggest investment in victim support services to date - and the Home Office will also invest £2.59m this year to support frontline providers that offer nationally accessible services to support victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.

Whether her Department has set a timetable for the introduction of a single core national data set on child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation.

The Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Progress Update, published in April last year, set out clearly the actions the Government is taking to respond to IICSA’s recommendations. We are now delivering on those commitments overseen by an inter-ministerial group on child sexual abuse chaired by the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls.Child Protection AuthorityLast month the Government published a consultation seeking views on the creation of the new Child Protection Authority for England. A Government response will be published by summer 2026 including a plan to establish the new body, and further information on its scope, structure, activities and responsibilities.Mandatory ReportingMeasures to introduce a new statutory duty for individuals undertaking key roles with responsibility for children and young people in England to report sexual abuse, and to create a new criminal offence of obstructing an individual from making a report under the duty are included in the Crime and Policing Bill which is currently passing through Parliament.Disclosure and Barring ServiceThe Government, working with the DBS, has been driving forward a continuous programme of work to improve employers’ and stakeholders’ understanding of, and compliance with, their statutory duty to inform the DBS about individuals who may pose a risk of harm to children.That work has included bespoke workshops on the legal duty to refer, how to make a good quality barring referral and recognising when it may be appropriate to refer someone to DBS because of harm caused outside the workplace. Through these workshops the DBS has reached over 12,000 individuals working in safeguarding roles. Since the DBS Outreach Service was introduced the number of referrals has increased by over 50% in every region.On 18 December 2025, legislation was also brought into force which enabled ACRO Criminal Records Office to include an individual’s barred list status on its International Child Protection Certificate (ICPC) which is available to those who are looking to work with children overseas. By ensuring that overseas employers can also learn an individual’s barred list status, this will reduce the risk of those barred from working with children in the UK being able to do so overseas.Limitation Period for Civil ClaimsThe Government has committed to remove the three-year time limit for victims to bring civil child sexual abuse claims with the burden of proof falling on defendants (rather than victims, as at present) to show that a fair trial is not possible. This measure has been included in the Crime and Policing Bill which is currently passing through Parliament.Joint inspections of compliance with the Victims’ CodeThe Government has asked the Criminal Justice Joint Inspectorates (CJJI) to include an inspection on the experiences of victims of child sexual abuse in the criminal justice system, including compliance with the Victims’ Code, in their 2025-27 Business Plan. The inspection is expected to take place in summer 2026.Retention of RecordsThe Government is preparing regulations instructing the Information Commissioner’s Office to produce a code of practice on the retention of personal data relating to child sexual abuse. We intend to lay the regulations before the House as soon as possible. Once the regulations have been laid, the ICO will prepare the code following consultation with an expert panel.Single Core National DatasetThe Government is taking a range of steps to improve the consistency of data collection and sharing related to child sexual abuse. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, currently passing through Parliament, will introduce a new information sharing duty and a consistent identifier for children to improve opportunities for agencies to better share their information about children at risk of child sexual abuse. The Government also continues to support the independent Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse which, through it’s Trends in Official Data report and Data Insights Hub brings together local and national data on the prevalence, identification and response to child sexual abuse.National Public Awareness CampaignThe Government is committed to raising public awareness about the scale and impacts of child sexual abuse and is supporting several targeted programmes to achieve this, including the #LookCloser campaign, aiming to raise awareness of all forms of child exploitation, and the Lucy Faithfull Foundation’s Stop It Now! Online Deterrence campaign and its services to prevent offending. As part of the Government’s commitment to halve VAWG in a decade, we are also supporting the ENOUGH campaign, a long-term national programme of behaviour change campaigns to deliver a generational shift in the awareness, attitudes, and behaviours underpinning abuse.Expenditure on Services Supporting Victims and SurvivorsThe Government is committing significant funding towards specialist support for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. The Department for Health and Social Care has announced a £50m package to support expansion of the ‘Child House’ model, a key step in addressing IICSA’s recommendation on improving therapeutic support for children affected by sexual abuse. The Ministry of Justice will be investing £550 million in victim support services over the next three years – the biggest investment in victim support services to date - and the Home Office will also invest £2.59m this year to support frontline providers that offer nationally accessible services to support victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.

Innovation and Technology, when regulated online service providers will be required to pre screen for known child sexual abuse material, in the context of the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

The Online Safety Act contains provisions to address the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse’s recommendation. Under Section 121 of the Act, Ofcom has the power, where necessary and proportionate, to require regulated services to use accredited technology to detect and remove child sexual exploitation and abuse content, including in private or encrypted channels.Ofcom will be able to issue a tech notice once minimum standards for accredited technologies have been published and its accreditation scheme is in place. It will publish advice on minimum standards to the Secretary of State by April 2026.

Whether her Department plans to commission a national public awareness programme on child sexual abuse.

The Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Progress Update, published in April last year, set out clearly the actions the Government is taking to respond to IICSA’s recommendations. We are now delivering on those commitments overseen by an inter-ministerial group on child sexual abuse chaired by the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls.Child Protection AuthorityLast month the Government published a consultation seeking views on the creation of the new Child Protection Authority for England. A Government response will be published by summer 2026 including a plan to establish the new body, and further information on its scope, structure, activities and responsibilities.Mandatory ReportingMeasures to introduce a new statutory duty for individuals undertaking key roles with responsibility for children and young people in England to report sexual abuse, and to create a new criminal offence of obstructing an individual from making a report under the duty are included in the Crime and Policing Bill which is currently passing through Parliament.Disclosure and Barring ServiceThe Government, working with the DBS, has been driving forward a continuous programme of work to improve employers’ and stakeholders’ understanding of, and compliance with, their statutory duty to inform the DBS about individuals who may pose a risk of harm to children.That work has included bespoke workshops on the legal duty to refer, how to make a good quality barring referral and recognising when it may be appropriate to refer someone to DBS because of harm caused outside the workplace. Through these workshops the DBS has reached over 12,000 individuals working in safeguarding roles. Since the DBS Outreach Service was introduced the number of referrals has increased by over 50% in every region.On 18 December 2025, legislation was also brought into force which enabled ACRO Criminal Records Office to include an individual’s barred list status on its International Child Protection Certificate (ICPC) which is available to those who are looking to work with children overseas. By ensuring that overseas employers can also learn an individual’s barred list status, this will reduce the risk of those barred from working with children in the UK being able to do so overseas.Limitation Period for Civil ClaimsThe Government has committed to remove the three-year time limit for victims to bring civil child sexual abuse claims with the burden of proof falling on defendants (rather than victims, as at present) to show that a fair trial is not possible. This measure has been included in the Crime and Policing Bill which is currently passing through Parliament.Joint inspections of compliance with the Victims’ CodeThe Government has asked the Criminal Justice Joint Inspectorates (CJJI) to include an inspection on the experiences of victims of child sexual abuse in the criminal justice system, including compliance with the Victims’ Code, in their 2025-27 Business Plan. The inspection is expected to take place in summer 2026.Retention of RecordsThe Government is preparing regulations instructing the Information Commissioner’s Office to produce a code of practice on the retention of personal data relating to child sexual abuse. We intend to lay the regulations before the House as soon as possible. Once the regulations have been laid, the ICO will prepare the code following consultation with an expert panel.Single Core National DatasetThe Government is taking a range of steps to improve the consistency of data collection and sharing related to child sexual abuse. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, currently passing through Parliament, will introduce a new information sharing duty and a consistent identifier for children to improve opportunities for agencies to better share their information about children at risk of child sexual abuse. The Government also continues to support the independent Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse which, through it’s Trends in Official Data report and Data Insights Hub brings together local and national data on the prevalence, identification and response to child sexual abuse.National Public Awareness CampaignThe Government is committed to raising public awareness about the scale and impacts of child sexual abuse and is supporting several targeted programmes to achieve this, including the #LookCloser campaign, aiming to raise awareness of all forms of child exploitation, and the Lucy Faithfull Foundation’s Stop It Now! Online Deterrence campaign and its services to prevent offending. As part of the Government’s commitment to halve VAWG in a decade, we are also supporting the ENOUGH campaign, a long-term national programme of behaviour change campaigns to deliver a generational shift in the awareness, attitudes, and behaviours underpinning abuse.Expenditure on Services Supporting Victims and SurvivorsThe Government is committing significant funding towards specialist support for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. The Department for Health and Social Care has announced a £50m package to support expansion of the ‘Child House’ model, a key step in addressing IICSA’s recommendation on improving therapeutic support for children affected by sexual abuse. The Ministry of Justice will be investing £550 million in victim support services over the next three years – the biggest investment in victim support services to date - and the Home Office will also invest £2.59m this year to support frontline providers that offer nationally accessible services to support victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.

What assessment has been made of public expenditure on services supporting victims and survivors of child sexual abuse, and when those assessments will be published, in the context of the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

The Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Progress Update, published in April last year, set out clearly the actions the Government is taking to respond to IICSA’s recommendations. We are now delivering on those commitments overseen by an inter-ministerial group on child sexual abuse chaired by the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls.Child Protection AuthorityLast month the Government published a consultation seeking views on the creation of the new Child Protection Authority for England. A Government response will be published by summer 2026 including a plan to establish the new body, and further information on its scope, structure, activities and responsibilities.Mandatory ReportingMeasures to introduce a new statutory duty for individuals undertaking key roles with responsibility for children and young people in England to report sexual abuse, and to create a new criminal offence of obstructing an individual from making a report under the duty are included in the Crime and Policing Bill which is currently passing through Parliament.Disclosure and Barring ServiceThe Government, working with the DBS, has been driving forward a continuous programme of work to improve employers’ and stakeholders’ understanding of, and compliance with, their statutory duty to inform the DBS about individuals who may pose a risk of harm to children.That work has included bespoke workshops on the legal duty to refer, how to make a good quality barring referral and recognising when it may be appropriate to refer someone to DBS because of harm caused outside the workplace. Through these workshops the DBS has reached over 12,000 individuals working in safeguarding roles. Since the DBS Outreach Service was introduced the number of referrals has increased by over 50% in every region.On 18 December 2025, legislation was also brought into force which enabled ACRO Criminal Records Office to include an individual’s barred list status on its International Child Protection Certificate (ICPC) which is available to those who are looking to work with children overseas. By ensuring that overseas employers can also learn an individual’s barred list status, this will reduce the risk of those barred from working with children in the UK being able to do so overseas.Limitation Period for Civil ClaimsThe Government has committed to remove the three-year time limit for victims to bring civil child sexual abuse claims with the burden of proof falling on defendants (rather than victims, as at present) to show that a fair trial is not possible. This measure has been included in the Crime and Policing Bill which is currently passing through Parliament.Joint inspections of compliance with the Victims’ CodeThe Government has asked the Criminal Justice Joint Inspectorates (CJJI) to include an inspection on the experiences of victims of child sexual abuse in the criminal justice system, including compliance with the Victims’ Code, in their 2025-27 Business Plan. The inspection is expected to take place in summer 2026.Retention of RecordsThe Government is preparing regulations instructing the Information Commissioner’s Office to produce a code of practice on the retention of personal data relating to child sexual abuse. We intend to lay the regulations before the House as soon as possible. Once the regulations have been laid, the ICO will prepare the code following consultation with an expert panel.Single Core National DatasetThe Government is taking a range of steps to improve the consistency of data collection and sharing related to child sexual abuse. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, currently passing through Parliament, will introduce a new information sharing duty and a consistent identifier for children to improve opportunities for agencies to better share their information about children at risk of child sexual abuse. The Government also continues to support the independent Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse which, through it’s Trends in Official Data report and Data Insights Hub brings together local and national data on the prevalence, identification and response to child sexual abuse.National Public Awareness CampaignThe Government is committed to raising public awareness about the scale and impacts of child sexual abuse and is supporting several targeted programmes to achieve this, including the #LookCloser campaign, aiming to raise awareness of all forms of child exploitation, and the Lucy Faithfull Foundation’s Stop It Now! Online Deterrence campaign and its services to prevent offending. As part of the Government’s commitment to halve VAWG in a decade, we are also supporting the ENOUGH campaign, a long-term national programme of behaviour change campaigns to deliver a generational shift in the awareness, attitudes, and behaviours underpinning abuse.Expenditure on Services Supporting Victims and SurvivorsThe Government is committing significant funding towards specialist support for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. The Department for Health and Social Care has announced a £50m package to support expansion of the ‘Child House’ model, a key step in addressing IICSA’s recommendation on improving therapeutic support for children affected by sexual abuse. The Ministry of Justice will be investing £550 million in victim support services over the next three years – the biggest investment in victim support services to date - and the Home Office will also invest £2.59m this year to support frontline providers that offer nationally accessible services to support victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.

When the Government plans to remove the three year limitation period for civil personal injury claims relating to child sexual abuse, in the context of the recommendation of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

The Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Progress Update, published in April last year, set out clearly the actions the Government is taking to respond to IICSA’s recommendations. We are now delivering on those commitments overseen by an inter-ministerial group on child sexual abuse chaired by the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls.Child Protection AuthorityLast month the Government published a consultation seeking views on the creation of the new Child Protection Authority for England. A Government response will be published by summer 2026 including a plan to establish the new body, and further information on its scope, structure, activities and responsibilities.Mandatory ReportingMeasures to introduce a new statutory duty for individuals undertaking key roles with responsibility for children and young people in England to report sexual abuse, and to create a new criminal offence of obstructing an individual from making a report under the duty are included in the Crime and Policing Bill which is currently passing through Parliament.Disclosure and Barring ServiceThe Government, working with the DBS, has been driving forward a continuous programme of work to improve employers’ and stakeholders’ understanding of, and compliance with, their statutory duty to inform the DBS about individuals who may pose a risk of harm to children.That work has included bespoke workshops on the legal duty to refer, how to make a good quality barring referral and recognising when it may be appropriate to refer someone to DBS because of harm caused outside the workplace. Through these workshops the DBS has reached over 12,000 individuals working in safeguarding roles. Since the DBS Outreach Service was introduced the number of referrals has increased by over 50% in every region.On 18 December 2025, legislation was also brought into force which enabled ACRO Criminal Records Office to include an individual’s barred list status on its International Child Protection Certificate (ICPC) which is available to those who are looking to work with children overseas. By ensuring that overseas employers can also learn an individual’s barred list status, this will reduce the risk of those barred from working with children in the UK being able to do so overseas.Limitation Period for Civil ClaimsThe Government has committed to remove the three-year time limit for victims to bring civil child sexual abuse claims with the burden of proof falling on defendants (rather than victims, as at present) to show that a fair trial is not possible. This measure has been included in the Crime and Policing Bill which is currently passing through Parliament.Joint inspections of compliance with the Victims’ CodeThe Government has asked the Criminal Justice Joint Inspectorates (CJJI) to include an inspection on the experiences of victims of child sexual abuse in the criminal justice system, including compliance with the Victims’ Code, in their 2025-27 Business Plan. The inspection is expected to take place in summer 2026.Retention of RecordsThe Government is preparing regulations instructing the Information Commissioner’s Office to produce a code of practice on the retention of personal data relating to child sexual abuse. We intend to lay the regulations before the House as soon as possible. Once the regulations have been laid, the ICO will prepare the code following consultation with an expert panel.Single Core National DatasetThe Government is taking a range of steps to improve the consistency of data collection and sharing related to child sexual abuse. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, currently passing through Parliament, will introduce a new information sharing duty and a consistent identifier for children to improve opportunities for agencies to better share their information about children at risk of child sexual abuse. The Government also continues to support the independent Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse which, through it’s Trends in Official Data report and Data Insights Hub brings together local and national data on the prevalence, identification and response to child sexual abuse.National Public Awareness CampaignThe Government is committed to raising public awareness about the scale and impacts of child sexual abuse and is supporting several targeted programmes to achieve this, including the #LookCloser campaign, aiming to raise awareness of all forms of child exploitation, and the Lucy Faithfull Foundation’s Stop It Now! Online Deterrence campaign and its services to prevent offending. As part of the Government’s commitment to halve VAWG in a decade, we are also supporting the ENOUGH campaign, a long-term national programme of behaviour change campaigns to deliver a generational shift in the awareness, attitudes, and behaviours underpinning abuse.Expenditure on Services Supporting Victims and SurvivorsThe Government is committing significant funding towards specialist support for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. The Department for Health and Social Care has announced a £50m package to support expansion of the ‘Child House’ model, a key step in addressing IICSA’s recommendation on improving therapeutic support for children affected by sexual abuse. The Ministry of Justice will be investing £550 million in victim support services over the next three years – the biggest investment in victim support services to date - and the Home Office will also invest £2.59m this year to support frontline providers that offer nationally accessible services to support victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.

What measures are being taken to strengthen compliance with the statutory duty to refer individuals to the Disclosure and Barring Service, as recommended by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

The Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Progress Update, published in April last year, set out clearly the actions the Government is taking to respond to IICSA’s recommendations. We are now delivering on those commitments overseen by an inter-ministerial group on child sexual abuse chaired by the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls.Child Protection AuthorityLast month the Government published a consultation seeking views on the creation of the new Child Protection Authority for England. A Government response will be published by summer 2026 including a plan to establish the new body, and further information on its scope, structure, activities and responsibilities.Mandatory ReportingMeasures to introduce a new statutory duty for individuals undertaking key roles with responsibility for children and young people in England to report sexual abuse, and to create a new criminal offence of obstructing an individual from making a report under the duty are included in the Crime and Policing Bill which is currently passing through Parliament.Disclosure and Barring ServiceThe Government, working with the DBS, has been driving forward a continuous programme of work to improve employers’ and stakeholders’ understanding of, and compliance with, their statutory duty to inform the DBS about individuals who may pose a risk of harm to children.That work has included bespoke workshops on the legal duty to refer, how to make a good quality barring referral and recognising when it may be appropriate to refer someone to DBS because of harm caused outside the workplace. Through these workshops the DBS has reached over 12,000 individuals working in safeguarding roles. Since the DBS Outreach Service was introduced the number of referrals has increased by over 50% in every region.On 18 December 2025, legislation was also brought into force which enabled ACRO Criminal Records Office to include an individual’s barred list status on its International Child Protection Certificate (ICPC) which is available to those who are looking to work with children overseas. By ensuring that overseas employers can also learn an individual’s barred list status, this will reduce the risk of those barred from working with children in the UK being able to do so overseas.Limitation Period for Civil ClaimsThe Government has committed to remove the three-year time limit for victims to bring civil child sexual abuse claims with the burden of proof falling on defendants (rather than victims, as at present) to show that a fair trial is not possible. This measure has been included in the Crime and Policing Bill which is currently passing through Parliament.Joint inspections of compliance with the Victims’ CodeThe Government has asked the Criminal Justice Joint Inspectorates (CJJI) to include an inspection on the experiences of victims of child sexual abuse in the criminal justice system, including compliance with the Victims’ Code, in their 2025-27 Business Plan. The inspection is expected to take place in summer 2026.Retention of RecordsThe Government is preparing regulations instructing the Information Commissioner’s Office to produce a code of practice on the retention of personal data relating to child sexual abuse. We intend to lay the regulations before the House as soon as possible. Once the regulations have been laid, the ICO will prepare the code following consultation with an expert panel.Single Core National DatasetThe Government is taking a range of steps to improve the consistency of data collection and sharing related to child sexual abuse. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, currently passing through Parliament, will introduce a new information sharing duty and a consistent identifier for children to improve opportunities for agencies to better share their information about children at risk of child sexual abuse. The Government also continues to support the independent Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse which, through it’s Trends in Official Data report and Data Insights Hub brings together local and national data on the prevalence, identification and response to child sexual abuse.National Public Awareness CampaignThe Government is committed to raising public awareness about the scale and impacts of child sexual abuse and is supporting several targeted programmes to achieve this, including the #LookCloser campaign, aiming to raise awareness of all forms of child exploitation, and the Lucy Faithfull Foundation’s Stop It Now! Online Deterrence campaign and its services to prevent offending. As part of the Government’s commitment to halve VAWG in a decade, we are also supporting the ENOUGH campaign, a long-term national programme of behaviour change campaigns to deliver a generational shift in the awareness, attitudes, and behaviours underpinning abuse.Expenditure on Services Supporting Victims and SurvivorsThe Government is committing significant funding towards specialist support for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. The Department for Health and Social Care has announced a £50m package to support expansion of the ‘Child House’ model, a key step in addressing IICSA’s recommendation on improving therapeutic support for children affected by sexual abuse. The Ministry of Justice will be investing £550 million in victim support services over the next three years – the biggest investment in victim support services to date - and the Home Office will also invest £2.59m this year to support frontline providers that offer nationally accessible services to support victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.

When legislation will be brought forward to prohibit the use of pain compliance techniques in custodial settings where children are detained, in the context of the recommendation of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

The Government has been undertaking work to determine the most suitable registration framework for the youth custody estate. A final decision on this had been planned, as set out in the Tackling Child Abuse Progress Update, for March 2026. Since the Progress Update was published in April 2025, I commissioned a wider review of safeguarding in youth custody to be undertaken by a panel, led by the Chief Social Worker for Children and Families. Ensuring the correct safeguards are in place and that staff are properly equipped to be working with children, is all within remit of the panel and it is right we let this conclude. The panel will finalise its recommendations by June 2026. We will respond to its recommendations and this IICSA recommendation in autumn 2026.The Government rejected recommendation 5 from the Inquiry and will not be introducing legislation. Where physical safety of all children and staff in custody is concerned, it is important that trained staff are able to use these techniques, as a last resort in an emergency, to bring an incident to a safe conclusion.The Government recognises the particular vulnerabilities of children in custody, which is why staff in the Youth Custody Service continue to be appropriately trained and that there is independent oversight and transparency over all use of these techniques through an Independent Restraint Review Panel.

When a code of practice on the retention of and access to records relating to child sexual abuse will be published, in the context of the recommendation of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

The Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Progress Update, published in April last year, set out clearly the actions the Government is taking to respond to IICSA’s recommendations. We are now delivering on those commitments overseen by an inter-ministerial group on child sexual abuse chaired by the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls.Child Protection AuthorityLast month the Government published a consultation seeking views on the creation of the new Child Protection Authority for England. A Government response will be published by summer 2026 including a plan to establish the new body, and further information on its scope, structure, activities and responsibilities.Mandatory ReportingMeasures to introduce a new statutory duty for individuals undertaking key roles with responsibility for children and young people in England to report sexual abuse, and to create a new criminal offence of obstructing an individual from making a report under the duty are included in the Crime and Policing Bill which is currently passing through Parliament.Disclosure and Barring ServiceThe Government, working with the DBS, has been driving forward a continuous programme of work to improve employers’ and stakeholders’ understanding of, and compliance with, their statutory duty to inform the DBS about individuals who may pose a risk of harm to children.That work has included bespoke workshops on the legal duty to refer, how to make a good quality barring referral and recognising when it may be appropriate to refer someone to DBS because of harm caused outside the workplace. Through these workshops the DBS has reached over 12,000 individuals working in safeguarding roles. Since the DBS Outreach Service was introduced the number of referrals has increased by over 50% in every region.On 18 December 2025, legislation was also brought into force which enabled ACRO Criminal Records Office to include an individual’s barred list status on its International Child Protection Certificate (ICPC) which is available to those who are looking to work with children overseas. By ensuring that overseas employers can also learn an individual’s barred list status, this will reduce the risk of those barred from working with children in the UK being able to do so overseas.Limitation Period for Civil ClaimsThe Government has committed to remove the three-year time limit for victims to bring civil child sexual abuse claims with the burden of proof falling on defendants (rather than victims, as at present) to show that a fair trial is not possible. This measure has been included in the Crime and Policing Bill which is currently passing through Parliament.Joint inspections of compliance with the Victims’ CodeThe Government has asked the Criminal Justice Joint Inspectorates (CJJI) to include an inspection on the experiences of victims of child sexual abuse in the criminal justice system, including compliance with the Victims’ Code, in their 2025-27 Business Plan. The inspection is expected to take place in summer 2026.Retention of RecordsThe Government is preparing regulations instructing the Information Commissioner’s Office to produce a code of practice on the retention of personal data relating to child sexual abuse. We intend to lay the regulations before the House as soon as possible. Once the regulations have been laid, the ICO will prepare the code following consultation with an expert panel.Single Core National DatasetThe Government is taking a range of steps to improve the consistency of data collection and sharing related to child sexual abuse. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, currently passing through Parliament, will introduce a new information sharing duty and a consistent identifier for children to improve opportunities for agencies to better share their information about children at risk of child sexual abuse. The Government also continues to support the independent Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse which, through it’s Trends in Official Data report and Data Insights Hub brings together local and national data on the prevalence, identification and response to child sexual abuse.National Public Awareness CampaignThe Government is committed to raising public awareness about the scale and impacts of child sexual abuse and is supporting several targeted programmes to achieve this, including the #LookCloser campaign, aiming to raise awareness of all forms of child exploitation, and the Lucy Faithfull Foundation’s Stop It Now! Online Deterrence campaign and its services to prevent offending. As part of the Government’s commitment to halve VAWG in a decade, we are also supporting the ENOUGH campaign, a long-term national programme of behaviour change campaigns to deliver a generational shift in the awareness, attitudes, and behaviours underpinning abuse.Expenditure on Services Supporting Victims and SurvivorsThe Government is committing significant funding towards specialist support for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. The Department for Health and Social Care has announced a £50m package to support expansion of the ‘Child House’ model, a key step in addressing IICSA’s recommendation on improving therapeutic support for children affected by sexual abuse. The Ministry of Justice will be investing £550 million in victim support services over the next three years – the biggest investment in victim support services to date - and the Home Office will also invest £2.59m this year to support frontline providers that offer nationally accessible services to support victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.

What steps are being taken to guarantee access to specialist therapeutic support services for child victims of sexual abuse, in the context of the recommendation of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

Last April, we committed to ambitious proposals in response to recommendation 16 from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. As part of our response to delivering on that promise, we are investing up to £50 million to roll out the internationally recognised Child House model across all National Health Service regions in England.The model brings health, justice, and social care professionals together under one roof to reduce trauma and deliver the care children deserve in a safe, child-centred environment. Too often, children are asked to retell their experiences to multiple professionals, reliving their trauma with each repetition. The Child House model changes this.This investment sits alongside our wider work to transform children’s mental health services. We are committed to reducing waiting times for specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service support, as set out in our Medium-Term Planning Framework. We are accelerating the rollout of mental health support teams in schools and colleges, working towards full national coverage by 2029. And we are investing an additional £13 million to pilot enhanced training so school-based mental health teams can better support young people with complex needs, including trauma.Together, these actions represent a fundamental shift by treating child sexual abuse as the healthcare priority it is and ensuring that victims and survivors receive the very best support to rebuild their lives.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of implementing the recommendation of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse to appoint a Cabinet level Minister with responsibility for children.

In April 2025, the government published its Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Progress Update, which responded to each of the 20 recommendations form the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. The government agrees with the importance of having a clear focus on children across government, including at Cabinet level. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, is the Cabinet minister for children and a Keeping Children Safe ministerial board has been established to drive and mainstream the strong collective cross-government focus on children’s wellbeing, safety and opportunity. This will bring together ministers from the government departments with a key role on issues affecting children.

When amendments to the Children Act 1989 to strengthen protections for children in local authority care will be brought forward, in the context of the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

Our ‘Tackling child sexual abuse: progress update’, published in April 2025, set out the government’s work to respond to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse’s recommendation to amend the Children Act 1989. The update is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-child-sexual-abuse-progress-update.The department will publish new national standards and statutory guidance for advocacy for children and young people and has committed to establishing a Child Protection Authority. In December 2025, we published the consultation on the authority’s scope, functions and powers, with the aim of making the system clearer, more unified and ensure there is ongoing improvement through effective evidence-based support for practitioners.Further, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill marks the biggest overhaul of children’s social care in a generation with a sharp focus on protecting children. This includes measures to establish multi-agency child protection teams in every local authority area, improve information sharing between agencies, and automatically include education and childcare settings in multi-agency safeguarding arrangements.

What steps she is taking to increase the availability of parts 2 and 3 of the driving instructor test.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is continually recruiting in to fill its ADI examiner vacancies and increase the capacity for additional part two and part three tests.DVSA has recently undertaken a campaign to recruit an additional 10 examiners this financial year with additional campaigns planned for 2026-27.DVSA recommends trainee instructors use the ‘Book to Hold’ service. All tests must be paid for at the time of booking, including where tests are booked to ‘hold’. This gives DVSA an accurate picture of where demand is, and it can then ensure that it deploys its examiner resources in the right areas. Once approved driving instructor examiner programmes have been finalised, DVSA will contact those on the hold list in the order they booked their test to hold to arrange a test whilst also mindful of regulatory deadline for the qualification process.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of completed housing developments in England where roads remain unadopted for more than three years after first occupation; and what steps he is taking to improve levels of adoption.

My Department does not hold the requested data. I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 18 December 2025 (HCWS1210).

Whether his Department records the number of War Pension cases in which tribunal outcomes identify factual inconsistencies or errors in medical evidence provided by Veterans UK.

As part of a War Pension Tribunal outcome, written reasons for the decision are provided. The Ministry of Defence does not keep a separate record of whether any factual inconsistencies are identified.

What processes are in place to assure the accuracy of medical reports produced for War Pension claims.

The Ministry of Defence does not produce medical reports for War Pension Scheme claims. All medical records are obtained from an individual's General Practitioner and/or hospital to ensure the information is sourced from qualified medical professionals.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that Veterans UK complies with disclosure obligations in War Pension and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme cases, particularly in relation to evidence provided to tribunals.

Evidence Bundles at Tribunals consists of all the information and documents used to make the decision on the claim including any advice received from the Ministry of Defence Medical Advisor. A full copy is provided to the appellant with all documents used to make the decision, and the appellant has the opportunity to raise any concerns or provide any comments. Deadlines for submission of evidence bundles are monitored using internal trackers, markers on the hard copy files and independently by the Tribunal Clerks.

What protocols Veterans UK follows to ensure compliance with directions issued by First-tier Tribunal judges in War Pension appeals; and whether performance against those protocols is independently monitored.

Tribunal directions can be issued at several stages of the appeal. In all circumstances the directions are actioned by caseworkers. Tribunal directions typically include directed timeframes, where on occasion the caseworker would respectfully request from Tribunal Clerk, extensions to any unachievable timeframes. Compliance with deadlines is monitored internally using internal trackers. The Tribunal clerks monitor responses to directions and raise any concerns or issues, with the caseworkers until the direction has been appropriately actioned.

Whether the forthcoming consultation on the proposed merger of shotgun and rifle licensing regimes will publish the evidence underpinning that proposal.

The Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February 2025, included a commitment to having a public consultation on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns to bring them more into line with the controls on other firearms in the interests of public safety. The Government response set out the reasons why the Government considers this consultation to be important, and we intend to publish this shortly.We will carefully consider all of the views put forward in response to the consultation once it is published, before taking any decisions on whether and what changes may be necessary in the interests of public safety. The Government will also provide an assessment of the impact of any changes that we intend to bring forward, including to policing and certificate holders, at the relevant time.