Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure there are enforceable lines of accountability between schools, governing bodies, local authorities, including Local Authority Designated Officers, Ofsted and the Independent Schools Inspectorate and the police when responding to cases of child on child sexual abuse; and if she will publish updated statutory guidance specifying who is responsible for initial safeguarding decisions, oversight, timescales for action and independent review.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Sexual abuse in any form is abhorrent and protecting children from this is an absolute priority for this government.
‘Working together to safeguard children’ is the statutory guidance which sets out the collaborative duties and responsibilities placed on agencies to safeguard and protect children.
‘Keeping children safe in education’ (KCSIE) is the statutory safeguarding guidance that all schools and colleges must have regard to, when safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. It includes clear and detailed guidance on managing reports of child-on-child sexual violence and harassment, and on recording concerns, discussions and decisions made
Local authorities, schools and colleges are held to account for safeguarding children through a number of routes, including statutory guidance, legislation, child safeguarding practice review panels and inspection.
All schools are assessed on safeguarding as part of their routine inspections. If a state-funded school is not fulfilling its responsibilities in relation to child-on-child sexual abuse, the school is likely to be placed in a category of concern. Similarly, an independent school would likely be judged to not meet the Independent School Standards. This would then lead to robust action to address the concerns
Any concerns about a school’s procedures should be raised directly with the school in question in the first instance, as they will be best placed to offer information and advice regarding their decisions
Where individuals are not satisfied with the outcome of any concerns raised, they are able to make a formal complaint via the school’s complaints procedure. All schools must have a complaint procedure, and it should explain how a complaint can be progressed if a parent remains dissatisfied with the school’s response. When a parent or other relevant body raises a safeguarding concern about pupil safety, including child-on-child sexual abuse, this could trigger an unannounced or focused inspection by Ofsted to assess whether the school is meeting its safeguarding responsibilities. Ofsted expects schools to demonstrate that they have thoroughly investigated safeguarding concerns from parents. This is part of the school’s statutory safeguarding duty under ‘Keeping children safe in education’.
Parents are also able to escalate concerns directly to the local council where they believe a child is at risk of immediate harm. More information about school complaints can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-school.
In relation to training for headteachers, Designated Safeguarding Leads and school governors, KCSIE makes clear that all staff should undergo safeguarding and child protection training, including online safety, which should be regularly updated and should be in line with any advice from local safeguarding partners.
The department already publishes analysis on children affected by sexual abuse or exploitation, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-in-need-a-focus-on-sexual-abuse-and-exploitation/2025.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will introduce national response timescales for schools and local authorities to investigate allegations of child on child sexual abuse, to provide written outcomes to families and to advise parents on independent routes of redress; and if she will require standardised record keeping and disclosure to parents within set deadlines.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Sexual abuse in any form is abhorrent and protecting children from this is an absolute priority for this government.
‘Working together to safeguard children’ is the statutory guidance which sets out the collaborative duties and responsibilities placed on agencies to safeguard and protect children.
‘Keeping children safe in education’ (KCSIE) is the statutory safeguarding guidance that all schools and colleges must have regard to, when safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. It includes clear and detailed guidance on managing reports of child-on-child sexual violence and harassment, and on recording concerns, discussions and decisions made
Local authorities, schools and colleges are held to account for safeguarding children through a number of routes, including statutory guidance, legislation, child safeguarding practice review panels and inspection.
All schools are assessed on safeguarding as part of their routine inspections. If a state-funded school is not fulfilling its responsibilities in relation to child-on-child sexual abuse, the school is likely to be placed in a category of concern. Similarly, an independent school would likely be judged to not meet the Independent School Standards. This would then lead to robust action to address the concerns
Any concerns about a school’s procedures should be raised directly with the school in question in the first instance, as they will be best placed to offer information and advice regarding their decisions
Where individuals are not satisfied with the outcome of any concerns raised, they are able to make a formal complaint via the school’s complaints procedure. All schools must have a complaint procedure, and it should explain how a complaint can be progressed if a parent remains dissatisfied with the school’s response. When a parent or other relevant body raises a safeguarding concern about pupil safety, including child-on-child sexual abuse, this could trigger an unannounced or focused inspection by Ofsted to assess whether the school is meeting its safeguarding responsibilities. Ofsted expects schools to demonstrate that they have thoroughly investigated safeguarding concerns from parents. This is part of the school’s statutory safeguarding duty under ‘Keeping children safe in education’.
Parents are also able to escalate concerns directly to the local council where they believe a child is at risk of immediate harm. More information about school complaints can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-school.
In relation to training for headteachers, Designated Safeguarding Leads and school governors, KCSIE makes clear that all staff should undergo safeguarding and child protection training, including online safety, which should be regularly updated and should be in line with any advice from local safeguarding partners.
The department already publishes analysis on children affected by sexual abuse or exploitation, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-in-need-a-focus-on-sexual-abuse-and-exploitation/2025.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to create an independent stage of complaint for parents in safeguarding cases where a school or governing body has already determined its own conduct in relation to child on child sexual abuse.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Sexual abuse in any form is abhorrent and protecting children from this is an absolute priority for this government.
‘Working together to safeguard children’ is the statutory guidance which sets out the collaborative duties and responsibilities placed on agencies to safeguard and protect children.
‘Keeping children safe in education’ (KCSIE) is the statutory safeguarding guidance that all schools and colleges must have regard to, when safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. It includes clear and detailed guidance on managing reports of child-on-child sexual violence and harassment, and on recording concerns, discussions and decisions made
Local authorities, schools and colleges are held to account for safeguarding children through a number of routes, including statutory guidance, legislation, child safeguarding practice review panels and inspection.
All schools are assessed on safeguarding as part of their routine inspections. If a state-funded school is not fulfilling its responsibilities in relation to child-on-child sexual abuse, the school is likely to be placed in a category of concern. Similarly, an independent school would likely be judged to not meet the Independent School Standards. This would then lead to robust action to address the concerns
Any concerns about a school’s procedures should be raised directly with the school in question in the first instance, as they will be best placed to offer information and advice regarding their decisions
Where individuals are not satisfied with the outcome of any concerns raised, they are able to make a formal complaint via the school’s complaints procedure. All schools must have a complaint procedure, and it should explain how a complaint can be progressed if a parent remains dissatisfied with the school’s response. When a parent or other relevant body raises a safeguarding concern about pupil safety, including child-on-child sexual abuse, this could trigger an unannounced or focused inspection by Ofsted to assess whether the school is meeting its safeguarding responsibilities. Ofsted expects schools to demonstrate that they have thoroughly investigated safeguarding concerns from parents. This is part of the school’s statutory safeguarding duty under ‘Keeping children safe in education’.
Parents are also able to escalate concerns directly to the local council where they believe a child is at risk of immediate harm. More information about school complaints can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-school.
In relation to training for headteachers, Designated Safeguarding Leads and school governors, KCSIE makes clear that all staff should undergo safeguarding and child protection training, including online safety, which should be regularly updated and should be in line with any advice from local safeguarding partners.
The department already publishes analysis on children affected by sexual abuse or exploitation, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-in-need-a-focus-on-sexual-abuse-and-exploitation/2025.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 July 2025 to Question 66600 on Slingshots: Regulation, what steps her Department is taking to strengthen the laws to protect wildlife from attacks with (a) catapults and (b) slingshots.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government takes crimes against wildlife seriously, including those involving the use of catapults and slingshots. Although these are not listed as prohibited weapons in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, within this legislation, as well as the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 and the Animal Welfare Act 2006, there are a range of offences around deliberate attempts to kill, injure or inflict harm on wildlife.
The Government believes that there is already sufficient legislation in place which protects wildlife from targeted use of catapults. Defra therefore has no current plans for legislative change.
However, Defra recognises that the misuse of catapults is causing great concern to some communities. We are working with the Home Office to find solutions to this problem with the aim of increasing protection to our wildlife from crimes involving these weapons.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what mechanisms currently allow Ofsted and the Independent Schools Inspectorate to conduct targeted safeguarding inspections where there is evidence of systemic mishandling of child-on-child sexual abuse; and if she will review inspection handbooks to include specific triggers and mandatory follow-up actions.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Sexual abuse in any form is abhorrent and protecting children from this is an absolute priority for this government.
‘Working together to safeguard children’ is the statutory guidance which sets out the collaborative duties and responsibilities placed on agencies to safeguard and protect children.
‘Keeping children safe in education’ (KCSIE) is the statutory safeguarding guidance that all schools and colleges must have regard to, when safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. It includes clear and detailed guidance on managing reports of child-on-child sexual violence and harassment, and on recording concerns, discussions and decisions made
Local authorities, schools and colleges are held to account for safeguarding children through a number of routes, including statutory guidance, legislation, child safeguarding practice review panels and inspection.
All schools are assessed on safeguarding as part of their routine inspections. If a state-funded school is not fulfilling its responsibilities in relation to child-on-child sexual abuse, the school is likely to be placed in a category of concern. Similarly, an independent school would likely be judged to not meet the Independent School Standards. This would then lead to robust action to address the concerns
Any concerns about a school’s procedures should be raised directly with the school in question in the first instance, as they will be best placed to offer information and advice regarding their decisions
Where individuals are not satisfied with the outcome of any concerns raised, they are able to make a formal complaint via the school’s complaints procedure. All schools must have a complaint procedure, and it should explain how a complaint can be progressed if a parent remains dissatisfied with the school’s response. When a parent or other relevant body raises a safeguarding concern about pupil safety, including child-on-child sexual abuse, this could trigger an unannounced or focused inspection by Ofsted to assess whether the school is meeting its safeguarding responsibilities. Ofsted expects schools to demonstrate that they have thoroughly investigated safeguarding concerns from parents. This is part of the school’s statutory safeguarding duty under ‘Keeping children safe in education’.
Parents are also able to escalate concerns directly to the local council where they believe a child is at risk of immediate harm. More information about school complaints can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-school.
In relation to training for headteachers, Designated Safeguarding Leads and school governors, KCSIE makes clear that all staff should undergo safeguarding and child protection training, including online safety, which should be regularly updated and should be in line with any advice from local safeguarding partners.
The department already publishes analysis on children affected by sexual abuse or exploitation, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-in-need-a-focus-on-sexual-abuse-and-exploitation/2025.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to require enhanced training for headteachers, Designated Safeguarding Leads and school governors on the handling of child-on-child sexual abuse, including training on record keeping, victim safeguarding and avoidance of secondary victimisation.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Sexual abuse in any form is abhorrent and protecting children from this is an absolute priority for this government.
‘Working together to safeguard children’ is the statutory guidance which sets out the collaborative duties and responsibilities placed on agencies to safeguard and protect children.
‘Keeping children safe in education’ (KCSIE) is the statutory safeguarding guidance that all schools and colleges must have regard to, when safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. It includes clear and detailed guidance on managing reports of child-on-child sexual violence and harassment, and on recording concerns, discussions and decisions made
Local authorities, schools and colleges are held to account for safeguarding children through a number of routes, including statutory guidance, legislation, child safeguarding practice review panels and inspection.
All schools are assessed on safeguarding as part of their routine inspections. If a state-funded school is not fulfilling its responsibilities in relation to child-on-child sexual abuse, the school is likely to be placed in a category of concern. Similarly, an independent school would likely be judged to not meet the Independent School Standards. This would then lead to robust action to address the concerns
Any concerns about a school’s procedures should be raised directly with the school in question in the first instance, as they will be best placed to offer information and advice regarding their decisions
Where individuals are not satisfied with the outcome of any concerns raised, they are able to make a formal complaint via the school’s complaints procedure. All schools must have a complaint procedure, and it should explain how a complaint can be progressed if a parent remains dissatisfied with the school’s response. When a parent or other relevant body raises a safeguarding concern about pupil safety, including child-on-child sexual abuse, this could trigger an unannounced or focused inspection by Ofsted to assess whether the school is meeting its safeguarding responsibilities. Ofsted expects schools to demonstrate that they have thoroughly investigated safeguarding concerns from parents. This is part of the school’s statutory safeguarding duty under ‘Keeping children safe in education’.
Parents are also able to escalate concerns directly to the local council where they believe a child is at risk of immediate harm. More information about school complaints can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-school.
In relation to training for headteachers, Designated Safeguarding Leads and school governors, KCSIE makes clear that all staff should undergo safeguarding and child protection training, including online safety, which should be regularly updated and should be in line with any advice from local safeguarding partners.
The department already publishes analysis on children affected by sexual abuse or exploitation, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-in-need-a-focus-on-sexual-abuse-and-exploitation/2025.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to require schools and local authorities to record and centrally report anonymised data on allegations of child-on-child sexual abuse, the actions taken and case outcomes.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Sexual abuse in any form is abhorrent and protecting children from this is an absolute priority for this government.
‘Working together to safeguard children’ is the statutory guidance which sets out the collaborative duties and responsibilities placed on agencies to safeguard and protect children.
‘Keeping children safe in education’ (KCSIE) is the statutory safeguarding guidance that all schools and colleges must have regard to, when safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. It includes clear and detailed guidance on managing reports of child-on-child sexual violence and harassment, and on recording concerns, discussions and decisions made
Local authorities, schools and colleges are held to account for safeguarding children through a number of routes, including statutory guidance, legislation, child safeguarding practice review panels and inspection.
All schools are assessed on safeguarding as part of their routine inspections. If a state-funded school is not fulfilling its responsibilities in relation to child-on-child sexual abuse, the school is likely to be placed in a category of concern. Similarly, an independent school would likely be judged to not meet the Independent School Standards. This would then lead to robust action to address the concerns
Any concerns about a school’s procedures should be raised directly with the school in question in the first instance, as they will be best placed to offer information and advice regarding their decisions
Where individuals are not satisfied with the outcome of any concerns raised, they are able to make a formal complaint via the school’s complaints procedure. All schools must have a complaint procedure, and it should explain how a complaint can be progressed if a parent remains dissatisfied with the school’s response. When a parent or other relevant body raises a safeguarding concern about pupil safety, including child-on-child sexual abuse, this could trigger an unannounced or focused inspection by Ofsted to assess whether the school is meeting its safeguarding responsibilities. Ofsted expects schools to demonstrate that they have thoroughly investigated safeguarding concerns from parents. This is part of the school’s statutory safeguarding duty under ‘Keeping children safe in education’.
Parents are also able to escalate concerns directly to the local council where they believe a child is at risk of immediate harm. More information about school complaints can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-school.
In relation to training for headteachers, Designated Safeguarding Leads and school governors, KCSIE makes clear that all staff should undergo safeguarding and child protection training, including online safety, which should be regularly updated and should be in line with any advice from local safeguarding partners.
The department already publishes analysis on children affected by sexual abuse or exploitation, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-in-need-a-focus-on-sexual-abuse-and-exploitation/2025.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the scale and impact of AI-generated political misinformation on online platforms; and what steps they are taking to safeguard democratic processes.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government takes the security and integrity of our democratic processes very seriously, including the risks posed by AI-generated content. While recent UK elections did not see the scale and sophistication of AI anticipated, this remains an important issue.
The Online Safety Act requires in-scope services to mitigate risks from illegal disinformation, including AI-generated content, relevant to elections (e.g. false communications). Media literacy is also part of our wider approach, building public resilience to mis- and disinformation.
The department also engages through the government’s Defending Democracy Taskforce, which is committed to safeguarding the UK from the full range of threats to democracy, including those from AI.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Information Commissioner's Office's decision to issue a reprimand rather than a fine to the Post Office following the disclosure of the personal information of postmasters involved in the Horizon IT scandal.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Post Office has rightly apologised for the data breach to which the noble Lord refers, which added to the injustice which this group of postmasters had already experienced. I understand that the Post Office has paid compensation for the breach. It is for the Information Commissioner, as an independent regulator, to decide what penalties are appropriate.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Conservative - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department will review the classification of neighbour harassment involving intrusive CCTV surveillance.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The police have a range of powers to deal with any behaviour that causes harassment, alarm or distress to others. The Government fully supports the police in their use of these powers to maintain public order and keep communities safe.
Individuals that use CCTV to film outside their property boundary have to comply fully with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published guidance which details the obligations the CCTV user will need to comply with: https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/home-cctv-systems/.
Where there is sufficient evidence of harassment or stalking from a domestic camera system, this may lead to prosecution for a criminal offence of harassment or stalking under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. In addition to the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, another potential remedy in civil law is the tort of private nuisance, which is a common law tort that relates to a person’s private rights in relation to land.