Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Crime and Police Bill 2024-26, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure a mandatory duty to report child sexual abuse for people undertaking key roles with children and young people are adequately trained to meet this duty.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Everyone who is responsible for the safety and wellbeing of children should receive appropriate training on referral processes. The government will set out clear guidance on the operation of the duty, and we will work with regulators and professional standards-setting bodies to ensure the new duty is clearly communicated ahead of implementation.
Each organisation will need to judge how best to support its own staff in in adhering to the requirements of the duty and developing their response to child sexual abuse.
Recognising that support is necessary in this complex area, the Home Office funds the independent Centre for Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse to further strengthen the ability of professionals to understand, identify and respond appropriately to concerns of child sexual abuse through the provision of evidence-based training and practice resources.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to extend the scope of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 to include decapod crustaceans; and what the timeline is for any work required prior to the decision.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022 recognises decapod crustaceans as sentient beings. The Government is committed to an evidence-based and proportionate approach to setting welfare standards for decapod crustaceans, both for those caught for human consumption and those used in scientific research.
The Home Office is carefully considering next steps, in collaboration with other relevant departments, on whether decapod crustaceans should be regulated under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. No timeline has yet been set and decisions will follow further evidence gathering.
The Government is committed to non-animal alternatives in science and has published a strategy to support their development, validation and adoption. The strategy is available at:
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the National Crime Agency is carrying out inspections on cargo flights from the Uyghur region to ensure they are not carrying goods made with Uyghur forced labour.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government remains firmly opposed to the use of state-imposed forced labour. We are committed to working with international partners and businesses to ensure global supply chains are free from human and labour rights abuses.
The Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) (2002) provides law enforcement agencies, including the NCA, with a powerful range of powers to seize cash and assets from individuals profiting from criminal activity. Government cannot direct how the POCA powers are used by law enforcement and independent operational decisions are a matter for the NCA.
In the recently published Trade Strategy, the Government announced a review of its approach to Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) policy. The review will consider the effectiveness of the current UK regime and alternative means of supporting responsible business practices, including consideration of mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence laws and import controls on goods made by forced labour. The Department for Business and Trade will engage regularly with stakeholders to develop findings and provide updates.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse was for the Independent Office for Police Conduct produce the Updated summary published for 2017 IOPC investigation linked to child sexual abuse in Rotherham.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
On 19 September 2025, following requests from complainants and other interested persons for further detail, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) published a further summary of the Operation Amazon investigation, which formed part of the series of investigations under Operation Linden.
The IOPC does not routinely publish the costs of individual investigations and reports. The Home Office holds no additional information.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on how much it cost for the Independent Office for Police Conduct to carry out the Operation Amazon investigation linked to child sexual abuse in Rotherham.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
I refer the Hon Member to letter sent to her from the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) regarding the costs for Operation Linden. A copy of the letter was placed in the House Library. As noted in that letter, “the total operations cost of the 91 investigations [which comprised Operation Linden], calculated until end March 2021 was estimated at just over £6 Million”. The Home Office holds no additional information.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on how much it cost for the Independent Office for Police Conduct to carry out the Operation Linden investigation linked to child sexual abuse in Rotherham.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
I refer the Hon Member to letter sent to her from the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) regarding the costs for Operation Linden. A copy of the letter was placed in the House Library. As noted in that letter, “the total operations cost of the 91 investigations [which comprised Operation Linden], calculated until end March 2021 was estimated at just over £6 Million”. The Home Office holds no additional information.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's transparency data entitled Non-technical summaries for project licences granted January – March 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the 2,161,210 animals approved for use across 125 projects.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Home Office is committed to ensuring that the use of animals in scientific research is strictly regulated and is only permitted where no suitable alternatives are available.
In parallel, the Government is committed to working towards a vision of phasing out the use of animals in science. This Government will publish a strategy that describes how it will accelerate the development and uptake of alternative methods to animal research and testing later this year.
All applications for animal research must conform with all legal requirements set out in the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. This includes, applying the principles of the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement); the replacement of animals with alternatives, the reduction of the number of animals used to the minimum possible and the refinement of any techniques to reduce the harm suffered by the animals to the minimum.
The Home Office only allows the use of animals if it can be demonstrated that the benefits outweigh the harms and the 3Rs have been fully applied. This ensures that any project is justified by the expected benefits for humans, animals or the environment.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2025 to Question 21608 on Cephalopods and Shellfish: Animal Welfare, what estimate she has made of when the Animals in Science Committee will conclude its work on the future options for the regulation of the use of decapod crustaceans in scientific research.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Home Office does not require advice from the Animals in Science Committee at this stage but will be guided by decisions made under the Animal Welfare Act regarding any consideration as to whether decapod crustaceans are regulated under the Animals (Scientific Procures) Act 1986.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has for the lethal dose 50 test.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The UK continues to lead the way in seeking the adoption internationally of improved testing methods that replace, reduce or refine the use of animals in scientific procedures.
Some authorised medicines in the UK include quality control tests which require the use of animals, conducted to ensure the quality, safety, and efficacy of specific medicines. These tests account for the LD50 cases still conducted.
UK regulators follow the principles of the 3Rs – to replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in tests. Significant progress has been made on validating alternative methods which do not use animals, including the possibility of replacing mice by in vitro suitable cell cultures in LD50-type testing methods, and the relevant regulatory quality standards and testing requirements have been revised accordingly for these specific medicines.
The implementation of new tests for existing products must be a process that protects and prioritises human safety, often requiring extensive validation. It is not presently possible to replace all of the existing animal tests with in vitro non-animal replacements.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2025 to Question 30996, what powers the Ministers from the Department for Education have been delegated in relation to implementing IICSA.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (the Inquiry) covered a broad range of issues and departmental responsibilities, including reforms to the child protection system, improving data, awareness-raising and supporting victims and survivors.
Responding to child sexual abuse requires a cross-Government effort and the Home Office is working collaboratively with departments across Government, including the Department for Education, to take action on the findings and recommendations of the Inquiry.