Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the forthcoming review of pornography regulation will consider any inconsistencies between online and offline regulation in restricting children’s access to sexually explicit material.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
On 9 December 2025, during the House of Lords Committee Stage debate on the Crime and Policing Bill, the Government announced that it would accept, in part, one of the recommendations from Baroness Bertin’s Independent Review on Pornography, namely recommendation 24 which says:
‘The current criminal justice response is ineffective in tackling illegal pornography online. Government should conduct its own legislative review of this regime to ensure that legislation and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) guidance is fit-for-purpose in tackling illegal pornography in the online world.’
The Government will be reviewing the criminal law relating to pornography, which will give an opportunity to look at the criminal law in this area holistically and consider whether it is fit for purpose in an ever-developing online world. We have accepted in part because the Government cannot accept the recommendation to review CPS guidance. As the CPS is independent, whether to conduct a review of guidance would be a matter for them to decide.
The review will be conducted by the Ministry of Justice. As the review is focused on the criminal law on pornography, it will not appraise the effectiveness of age-verification, age-assurance methods or regulation, which are outside of the scope of the criminal legislation the Ministry of Justice will be reviewing. A Joint Team has been set up, across the Home Office, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, to rigorously examine the evidence to address the issues from the Pornography Review. It will examine the evidence to inform the Government’s approach to pornography policy.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the forthcoming review of the criminal law relating to pornography will assess the effectiveness of current a) age-verification and b) age-assurance measures in preventing children from accessing online pornography.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
On 9 December 2025, during the House of Lords Committee Stage debate on the Crime and Policing Bill, the Government announced that it would accept, in part, one of the recommendations from Baroness Bertin’s Independent Review on Pornography, namely recommendation 24 which says:
‘The current criminal justice response is ineffective in tackling illegal pornography online. Government should conduct its own legislative review of this regime to ensure that legislation and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) guidance is fit-for-purpose in tackling illegal pornography in the online world.’
The Government will be reviewing the criminal law relating to pornography, which will give an opportunity to look at the criminal law in this area holistically and consider whether it is fit for purpose in an ever-developing online world. We have accepted in part because the Government cannot accept the recommendation to review CPS guidance. As the CPS is independent, whether to conduct a review of guidance would be a matter for them to decide.
The review will be conducted by the Ministry of Justice. As the review is focused on the criminal law on pornography, it will not appraise the effectiveness of age-verification, age-assurance methods or regulation, which are outside of the scope of the criminal legislation the Ministry of Justice will be reviewing. A Joint Team has been set up, across the Home Office, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, to rigorously examine the evidence to address the issues from the Pornography Review. It will examine the evidence to inform the Government’s approach to pornography policy.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department expects to publish the review of pornography regulation announced in the House of Lords on 10 December 2025.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
On 9 December 2025, during the House of Lords Committee Stage debate on the Crime and Policing Bill, the Government announced that it would accept, in part, one of the recommendations from Baroness Bertin’s Independent Review on Pornography, namely recommendation 24 which says:
‘The current criminal justice response is ineffective in tackling illegal pornography online. Government should conduct its own legislative review of this regime to ensure that legislation and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) guidance is fit-for-purpose in tackling illegal pornography in the online world.’
The Government will be reviewing the criminal law relating to pornography, which will give an opportunity to look at the criminal law in this area holistically and consider whether it is fit for purpose in an ever-developing online world. We have accepted in part because the Government cannot accept the recommendation to review CPS guidance. As the CPS is independent, whether to conduct a review of guidance would be a matter for them to decide.
The review will be conducted by the Ministry of Justice. As the review is focused on the criminal law on pornography, it will not appraise the effectiveness of age-verification, age-assurance methods or regulation, which are outside of the scope of the criminal legislation the Ministry of Justice will be reviewing. A Joint Team has been set up, across the Home Office, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, to rigorously examine the evidence to address the issues from the Pornography Review. It will examine the evidence to inform the Government’s approach to pornography policy.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convictions there have been for offences relating to the termination of pregnancy through the the pills-by-post scheme.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of convictions across England and Wales for a wide range of offences in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal justice statistics - GOV.UK
The offences that constitute unlawful abortion include procuring an illegal abortion under sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, as well as child destruction under section 1 of the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929.
Information centrally held does not specify how many of these convictions are linked to the use of the pills-by-post scheme.
The Department of Health and Social Care is responsible for the policy relating to the pills-by-post scheme.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what funding he plans to allocate from the Victims General Fund to the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Norfolk in 2026/27, and when he plans to publish details of that funding.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice is investing £550 million in victim support services over the next three years – the biggest investment in victim support services to date. We will be increasing funding for victim support services year on year, from 2026 to 2029, recognising the need to meet the rising cost pressures of delivery.
The Ministry of Justice provides all Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in England and Wales with annual grant funding to commission local practical, emotional, and therapeutic support services for victims of all crime types. In 2025/26, the funding from MOJ to Norfolk PCC included £0.78 million in ring-fenced funding specifically to support victims of sexual violence and domestic abuse. For 2026/27, we have allocated £1.83 million in victims funding to the PCC for Norfolk, which includes £0.8 million of ring-fenced funding for sexual violence and domestic abuse services.
The budgets for individual PCC areas are routinely published on each area’s website.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much ringfenced funding (a) Norfolk Constabulary, and (b) the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Norfolk received for Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence victim support services in 2025/26.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice is investing £550 million in victim support services over the next three years – the biggest investment in victim support services to date. We will be increasing funding for victim support services year on year, from 2026 to 2029, recognising the need to meet the rising cost pressures of delivery.
The Ministry of Justice provides all Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in England and Wales with annual grant funding to commission local practical, emotional, and therapeutic support services for victims of all crime types. In 2025/26, the funding from MOJ to Norfolk PCC included £0.78 million in ring-fenced funding specifically to support victims of sexual violence and domestic abuse. For 2026/27, we have allocated £1.83 million in victims funding to the PCC for Norfolk, which includes £0.8 million of ring-fenced funding for sexual violence and domestic abuse services.
The budgets for individual PCC areas are routinely published on each area’s website.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent estimate he has made of the average length of time taken by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority to process applications; and if he will bring forward proposals to implement a time limit by which applications must be decided.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012 (the 2012 Scheme) does not prescribe a time limit for applications to be decided.
Most applications are decided within 12 months. Each case must be considered on its own facts. In most cases, CICA requires information from third parties such as the police and medical authorities in order to decide a claim.
Some applications will by necessity take longer to decide. This could be where information is not available due to ongoing court proceedings, where CICA needs time to assess the long-term impact of complex injuries (e.g. brain injuries), or where there is an application for loss of earnings (which requires at least 28 weeks of loss).
In the financial year 2024-25, the average time to make a decision was 370 days.
The figure does not include applications deferred under paragraph 98 of the 2012 Scheme.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled Deputy Prime Minister sets out vision for the justice system, published on 24 February 2026, what steps he is taking to ensure that blitz courts do not lead to prolonged waits for trials for other types of cases.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government is committed to reducing outstanding caseloads in the Crown Court while maintaining progress across all case types.
Targeted initiatives, sometimes referred to as “blitz” courts, are carefully planned and time-limited exercises designed to make best use of available courtrooms, judicial capacity and sitting days. They are intended to increase overall throughput rather than divert resources from other cases. The plan is for London to use two courts at the Central Criminal Court specifically to accommodate the blitz courts.
Listing decisions in the Crown Court are a matter for the independent judiciary. HMCTS works closely with the judiciary to monitor waiting times and operational pressures across the system to ensure that targeted activity in one area does not lead to unintended delays elsewhere.
We continue to fund increased Crown Court sitting days and for 2026/27 we have removed the financial limits on how many days Crown Courts can sit in order to improve timeliness for all court users.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled Deputy Prime Minister sets out vision for the justice system, published on 24 February 2026, which additional local authorities plan to adopt the scheme allowing prisoner transport vans to use bus lanes.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We agree with Sir Brian’s Leveson’s recommendation in the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts that Prisoner Escort and Custody Services (PECS) should be enabled to use bus lanes when transporting prisoners. However, these decisions are ultimately for local authorities.
PECS vehicles already use bus lanes in Manchester, Bristol, Salford and Nottingham. We are currently engaging with local authorities across the country to expand this, and will work with the Department for Transport to ensure that local authorities are aware of the role they can play in reducing prisoner delays. For example, in London we are working closely with Transport for London to pilot a scheme that retimes traffic signals to prioritise PECS vans on three routes in the capital. Around 300 traffic lights will be adjusted so that PECS vehicles are more likely to receive green lights on their journey to court.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled Deputy Prime Minister sets out vision for the justice system, published on 24 February 2026, whether any blitz courts are planned to be opened in Essex.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
At this current time there are no plans to operate blitz courts in Essex.