Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many returns agreements her Department have made to enable the return of foreign nationals in the last 12 months.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) is responsible for the development and implementation of the Designated Reporting Body (DRB), which will receive reports of CSEA from in-scope user-to-user service providers. The NCA has confirmed that the DRB has been delayed due to technical issues. Until the DRB is ready to receive reports, the CSEA reporting provisions in the OSA cannot come into force.

By revoking the original SIs, the Government is granting the NCA time to resolve technical issues with the reporting portal and allow for the reporting portal to be thoroughly tested ahead of the portal becoming fully operational. This will significantly increase the prospect of an efficient, fully accessible and robust reporting mechanism when legislation comes into force.

The NCA expects the DRB to go live in Spring 2026. The OSA’s provisions to report CSEA content to the NCA, including the Reporting Regulations, will be laid and will come into force in parallel with the operationalisation of the DRB in Spring 2026.