Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits to the health, safety, and welfare of sex workers of expunging criminal records relating to sex work to remove barriers to accessing other jobs.

There are a number of activities that can be associated with sex work and prostitution which are offences. This includes activities linked to exploitation, such as controlling prostitution and activities that can present a public nuisance.

Where a conviction has become spent, individuals are treated as rehabilitated in respect of that offence and are not obliged to declare it for most purposes, such as when applying for most jobs.

The Government’s priority is to tackle harm and exploitation associated with sex work and prostitution and believes that people who want to leave prostitution should be given every opportunity to find routes out. To this end, we work closely with the police and other criminal justice agencies to ensure legislation achieves these aims. Since 2016 we have also provided funding through the Tampon Tax Fund and VAWG Transformation Fund to specialist organisations and projects supporting sex workers.