A Bill to mandate those providing and carrying out regulated or other activities with responsibility for the care of children to report known and suspected child sexual abuse; to protect mandated reporters from detriment; to create a criminal offence of failing to report prescribed concerns; and for connected purposes.
House of Lords
30 April 2026
May contain errors — check source documents for definitive information.
The bill would require people working with children in regulated or similar activities to report known or suspected child sexual abuse to the local authority within seven days, with a written follow-up. It introduces penalties for not reporting or for deterring reporters, protects reporters from detriment, and lets the government add or remove activities from the reporting list by regulation, applying to England and Wales with effects starting nine months after passage.
The bill has reached the Lords’ 2nd Reading (17 January 2025) and will proceed to Committee Stage. The document trail notes the core features described at first publication (29 July 2024), including penalties and a regulation-making power, and mentions official scrutiny via briefing papers and a Select Committee report, though specific amendments are not detailed in the provided summary.
Generated 21 February 2026
29 Jul 2024
17 Jan 2025
The 2024-26 session of Parliament has prorogued and this bill will make no further progress.
The Bill imposes a mandatory reporting duty for known or suspected child sexual abuse by staff and organisations that work with children, requiring reports to be made to the local authority’s designated contact and confirmed in writing within seven days. It defines who must report, extends the duty to a wide range of settings and providers, and creates offences and fines for failing to report or for trying to deter reporters, with safeguards for confidentiality. The Secretary of State can add or remove activities from the list by regulation; the measure applies to England and Wales and comes into force nine months after passage.
No recorded votes for this bill yet.
