The Cabinet Office carried out a due diligence exercise prior to the announcement of Lord Mandelson’s role as His Majesty's Ambassador to the United States as documented in the response to the Humble Address published on 11 March 2026.

The Cabinet Office has responsibility for security vetting policy and the UK Security Vetting (UKSV) organisation is based in the Cabinet Office. UKSV carried out the national security vetting for Lord Mandelson in January 2025, although the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office sponsored this clearance and made the decision. The Cabinet Office officials involvement in the security vetting process is documented in the second Humble Address tranche published in the House on 1 June 2026.

Central guidance was issued in 2023 on Using Non-Corporate Communication Channels for Government Business, which is available on GOV.UK.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the Cabinet Office guidance on the use of non-corporate communication channels, published under the previous government, on 30 March 2023: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/non-corporate-communication-channels-for-government-business.

I refer the Hon Member to the Government’s statement and release of information on 1st June, in response to the Humble Address. The documents published in the first and second tranches contain the entirety of the documents the Government has available for disclosure, except those being withheld at the request of the Metropolitan Police.

The Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Progress Update, published in April last year, set out clearly the actions the Government is taking to respond to IICSA’s recommendations. We are now delivering on those commitments overseen by an inter-ministerial group on child sexual abuse chaired by the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls.

Child Protection Authority

Last month the Government published a consultation seeking views on the creation of the new Child Protection Authority for England. A Government response will be published by summer 2026 including a plan to establish the new body, and further information on its scope, structure, activities and responsibilities.

Mandatory Reporting

Measures to introduce a new statutory duty for individuals undertaking key roles with responsibility for children and young people in England to report sexual abuse, and to create a new criminal offence of obstructing an individual from making a report under the duty are included in the Crime and Policing Bill which is currently passing through Parliament.

Disclosure and Barring Service

The Government, working with the DBS, has been driving forward a continuous programme of work to improve employers’ and stakeholders’ understanding of, and compliance with, their statutory duty to inform the DBS about individuals who may pose a risk of harm to children.

That work has included bespoke workshops on the legal duty to refer, how to make a good quality barring referral and recognising when it may be appropriate to refer someone to DBS because of harm caused outside the workplace. Through these workshops the DBS has reached over 12,000 individuals working in safeguarding roles. Since the DBS Outreach Service was introduced the number of referrals has increased by over 50% in every region.

On 18 December 2025, legislation was also brought into force which enabled ACRO Criminal Records Office to include an individual’s barred list status on its International Child Protection Certificate (ICPC) which is available to those who are looking to work with children overseas. By ensuring that overseas employers can also learn an individual’s barred list status, this will reduce the risk of those barred from working with children in the UK being able to do so overseas.

Limitation Period for Civil Claims

The Government has committed to remove the three-year time limit for victims to bring civil child sexual abuse claims with the burden of proof falling on defendants (rather than victims, as at present) to show that a fair trial is not possible. This measure has been included in the Crime and Policing Bill which is currently passing through Parliament.

Joint inspections of compliance with the Victims’ Code

The Government has asked the Criminal Justice Joint Inspectorates (CJJI) to include an inspection on the experiences of victims of child sexual abuse in the criminal justice system, including compliance with the Victims’ Code, in their 2025-27 Business Plan. The inspection is expected to take place in summer 2026.

Retention of Records

The Government is preparing regulations instructing the Information Commissioner’s Office to produce a code of practice on the retention of personal data relating to child sexual abuse. We intend to lay the regulations before the House as soon as possible. Once the regulations have been laid, the ICO will prepare the code following consultation with an expert panel.

Single Core National Dataset

The Government is taking a range of steps to improve the consistency of data collection and sharing related to child sexual abuse. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, currently passing through Parliament, will introduce a new information sharing duty and a consistent identifier for children to improve opportunities for agencies to better share their information about children at risk of child sexual abuse. The Government also continues to support the independent Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse which, through it’s Trends in Official Data report and Data Insights Hub brings together local and national data on the prevalence, identification and response to child sexual abuse.

National Public Awareness Campaign

The Government is committed to raising public awareness about the scale and impacts of child sexual abuse and is supporting several targeted programmes to achieve this, including the #LookCloser campaign, aiming to raise awareness of all forms of child exploitation, and the Lucy Faithfull Foundation’s Stop It Now! Online Deterrence campaign and its services to prevent offending. As part of the Government’s commitment to halve VAWG in a decade, we are also supporting the ENOUGH campaign, a long-term national programme of behaviour change campaigns to deliver a generational shift in the awareness, attitudes, and behaviours underpinning abuse.

Expenditure on Services Supporting Victims and Survivors

The Government is committing significant funding towards specialist support for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. The Department for Health and Social Care has announced a £50m package to support expansion of the ‘Child House’ model, a key step in addressing IICSA’s recommendation on improving therapeutic support for children affected by sexual abuse. The Ministry of Justice will be investing £550 million in victim support services over the next three years – the biggest investment in victim support services to date - and the Home Office will also invest £2.59m this year to support frontline providers that offer nationally accessible services to support victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.

The Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Progress Update, published in April last year, set out clearly the actions the Government is taking to respond to IICSA’s recommendations. We are now delivering on those commitments overseen by an inter-ministerial group on child sexual abuse chaired by the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls.

Child Protection Authority

Last month the Government published a consultation seeking views on the creation of the new Child Protection Authority for England. A Government response will be published by summer 2026 including a plan to establish the new body, and further information on its scope, structure, activities and responsibilities.

Mandatory Reporting

Measures to introduce a new statutory duty for individuals undertaking key roles with responsibility for children and young people in England to report sexual abuse, and to create a new criminal offence of obstructing an individual from making a report under the duty are included in the Crime and Policing Bill which is currently passing through Parliament.

Disclosure and Barring Service

The Government, working with the DBS, has been driving forward a continuous programme of work to improve employers’ and stakeholders’ understanding of, and compliance with, their statutory duty to inform the DBS about individuals who may pose a risk of harm to children.

That work has included bespoke workshops on the legal duty to refer, how to make a good quality barring referral and recognising when it may be appropriate to refer someone to DBS because of harm caused outside the workplace. Through these workshops the DBS has reached over 12,000 individuals working in safeguarding roles. Since the DBS Outreach Service was introduced the number of referrals has increased by over 50% in every region.

On 18 December 2025, legislation was also brought into force which enabled ACRO Criminal Records Office to include an individual’s barred list status on its International Child Protection Certificate (ICPC) which is available to those who are looking to work with children overseas. By ensuring that overseas employers can also learn an individual’s barred list status, this will reduce the risk of those barred from working with children in the UK being able to do so overseas.

Limitation Period for Civil Claims

The Government has committed to remove the three-year time limit for victims to bring civil child sexual abuse claims with the burden of proof falling on defendants (rather than victims, as at present) to show that a fair trial is not possible. This measure has been included in the Crime and Policing Bill which is currently passing through Parliament.

Joint inspections of compliance with the Victims’ Code

The Government has asked the Criminal Justice Joint Inspectorates (CJJI) to include an inspection on the experiences of victims of child sexual abuse in the criminal justice system, including compliance with the Victims’ Code, in their 2025-27 Business Plan. The inspection is expected to take place in summer 2026.

Retention of Records

The Government is preparing regulations instructing the Information Commissioner’s Office to produce a code of practice on the retention of personal data relating to child sexual abuse. We intend to lay the regulations before the House as soon as possible. Once the regulations have been laid, the ICO will prepare the code following consultation with an expert panel.

Single Core National Dataset

The Government is taking a range of steps to improve the consistency of data collection and sharing related to child sexual abuse. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, currently passing through Parliament, will introduce a new information sharing duty and a consistent identifier for children to improve opportunities for agencies to better share their information about children at risk of child sexual abuse. The Government also continues to support the independent Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse which, through it’s Trends in Official Data report and Data Insights Hub brings together local and national data on the prevalence, identification and response to child sexual abuse.

National Public Awareness Campaign

The Government is committed to raising public awareness about the scale and impacts of child sexual abuse and is supporting several targeted programmes to achieve this, including the #LookCloser campaign, aiming to raise awareness of all forms of child exploitation, and the Lucy Faithfull Foundation’s Stop It Now! Online Deterrence campaign and its services to prevent offending. As part of the Government’s commitment to halve VAWG in a decade, we are also supporting the ENOUGH campaign, a long-term national programme of behaviour change campaigns to deliver a generational shift in the awareness, attitudes, and behaviours underpinning abuse.

Expenditure on Services Supporting Victims and Survivors

The Government is committing significant funding towards specialist support for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. The Department for Health and Social Care has announced a £50m package to support expansion of the ‘Child House’ model, a key step in addressing IICSA’s recommendation on improving therapeutic support for children affected by sexual abuse. The Ministry of Justice will be investing £550 million in victim support services over the next three years – the biggest investment in victim support services to date - and the Home Office will also invest £2.59m this year to support frontline providers that offer nationally accessible services to support victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.

The first priority of government is protecting national security.

All applications for UK immigration status, including asylum claims, are subject to comprehensive security checks. Where an individual is assessed as presenting a risk to our country, we take swift and robust action.

The Home Office uses various tools to detect and disrupt travel by individuals of national security interest and by individuals excluded from the UK; previously deported from the UK; or using lost, stolen or revoked documents and visas. This includes the use of domestic and international watchlists.

It is longstanding policy not to discuss either the specific data held on the watchlist, the source of the data or how it is used, as to do so would be counterproductive and harmful to the national security of the UK.

All asylum claimants undergo mandatory security checks to establish their identity and to link it to their biometric details for the purpose of immigration, security and criminality checks - including war crimes, crimes against humanity and terrorism. To protect the integrity of the specific identity and security checking processes that are conducted, details about them are not disclosed publicly.

All asylum and human rights claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations. Our guidance for considering asylum claims is available on GOV.UK at: Assessing credibility and refugee status: caseworker guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Each assessment is made using relevant case law and the latest available country of origin information, which is based on evidence taken from a wide range of reliable sources. Our assessment of the situation of a given group in a given country, is set out in the relevant country policy and information note, which is available on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-policy-and-information-notes

Under Article 1F of the Refugee Convention, we will deny protection to those who commit serious crimes or represent a threat to national security.

All asylum claimants undergo mandatory security checks to establish their identity and to link it to their biometric details for the purpose of immigration, security and criminality checks - including war crimes, crimes against humanity and terrorism. To protect the integrity of the specific identity and security checking processes that are conducted, details about them are not disclosed publicly.

All asylum and human rights claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations. Our guidance for considering asylum claims is available on GOV.UK at: Assessing credibility and refugee status: caseworker guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Each assessment is made using relevant case law and the latest available country of origin information, which is based on evidence taken from a wide range of reliable sources. Our assessment of the situation of a given group in a given country, is set out in the relevant country policy and information note, which is available on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-policy-and-information-notes

Under Article 1F of the Refugee Convention, we will deny protection to those who commit serious crimes or represent a threat to national security.

We do not comment on security matters, however all asylum claimants are subject to robust, mandatory security checks and we will not compromise the integrity of the UK immigration system. These system and security database checks are completed during the asylum screening process and before a decision is made.

We do not comment on security matters, however all asylum claimants are subject to robust, mandatory security checks and we will not compromise the integrity of the UK immigration system. These system and security database checks are completed during the asylum screening process and before a decision is made.

When an individual claims asylum, the Home Office conducts mandatory identity, criminality and security checks. Biographic and biometric data are routinely checked against relevant Home Office systems and police criminality databases including domestic and international data.

When an individual claims asylum, the Home Office conducts mandatory identity, criminality and security checks. Biographic and biometric data are routinely checked against relevant Home Office systems and police criminality databases including domestic and international data.