Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason the Online Safety Act 2023 (Commencement No 5) Regulations 2025, due to come into force on 3 November, were revoked on 9 October.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) is responsible for the development andimplementation of the Designated Reporting Body (DRB), which will receivereports of CSEA from in-scope user-to-user service providers.

The NCA hasconfirmed that the DRB has been delayed due to technical issues.

Until theDRB is ready to receive reports, the CSEA reporting provisions in the OSAcannot come into force.By revoking the original SIs, the Government is granting the NCA time toresolve technical issues with the reporting portal and allow for the reportingportal to be thoroughly tested ahead of the portal becoming fully operational.

This will significantly increase the prospect of an efficient, fully accessible androbust reporting mechanism when legislation comes into force.The NCA expects the DRB to go live in Spring 2026. The OSA’s provisions toreport CSEA content to the NCA, including the Reporting Regulations, will belaid and will come into force in parallel with the operationalisation of the DRBin Spring 2026.