Correspondence

Letter from Lord Hanson and Baroness Levitt to Lord Davies detailing final government amendments for Lords Report stage: 2 March 2026

Updated 25 March 2026

Lord Hanson of Flint
Minister of State
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF

Lord Davies of Gower
House of Lords

02 March 2026

Dear Byron,

Crime and Policing Bill: Final government amendments for Lords Report stage

We are writing with details of a final tranche of government amendments which we have today tabled for Lords Report stage. These amendments (copy attached) again respond to issues raised at Committee stage.

Child cruelty register (new clauses “Notification requirements for child cruelty offenders”, “Notification requirements for child cruelty offenders: enforcement”, “Notification requirements for child cruelty offenders: power to amend Schedule (Notification requirements for child cruelty offenders: child cruelty offences)” and “Notification requirements for child cruelty offenders: interpretation” and new Schedule “Notification requirements for child cruelty offenders: child cruelty offences” and amendments to clauses 215 and 218)

As part of this government’s commitment to safeguarding the most vulnerable in our society, these new clauses and new Schedule confer on Secretary of State the power to make regulations establishing notification requirements for individuals cautioned or convicted of specified child cruelty offences. Such requirements would be analogous to those provided for in Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 in respect of convicted sex offenders. As such, child cruelty offenders would be required to notify the police of certain personal information (name, address etc) and to keep it up to date; failure to comply with the requirements would be a criminal offence with a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment. As detailed in the accompanying delegated powers memorandum, leaving the detailed design of the notification regime to secondary legislation will enable us to consult fully with the police and others which would not otherwise be possible to the timetable for the remaining stages of this bill. This measure will strengthen the ability of police and partner agencies to monitor and manage risk beyond an offender’s licence period, ensuring continued protection for children.

These amendments apply to England and Wales.

Power to amend Online Safety Act 20023 in relation to AI chatbots (new clause “Power to amend Online Safety Act 2023: AI”)

Following work with Ofcom, the government has identified that the Online Safety Act currently has an uneven application to generative AI services, including chatbots. While some services fall within the regulatory framework of the Online Safety Act (OSA) 2023 (where they meet the definition of a “search service” or a “user-to-user service”) other generative AI services (which only draw responses from their underlying model and do not have content-sharing functionality) remain unregulated under the OSA.

This new clause confers on the Secretary of State the power to make regulations to bring unregulated AI services into scope of the OSA and to subject them to duties to minimise or mitigate the risks of harm to UK users from illegal AI-generated content and from the use of AI services for the commission or facilitation of priority offences (as defined by the OSA). The power would also enable the Secretary of State to confer on Ofcom functions and duties that correspond to, or are similar to, Ofcom’s existing duties and powers under the OSA, including in relation to regulatory guidance, codes of practice, enforcement and information gathering.

As detailed in the accompanying delegated powers memorandum, leaving the detailed design of the regulations to secondary legislation will enable the government to consult fully on the new and emerging risks this technology might pose, and move quickly to implement the potential solutions to addressing them.

The new clause applies UK-wide.

Data preservation notices (new clause “OFCOM’s notices to providers of internet services” and amendments to clauses 217 and 218)

Following amendments tabled by Baroness Kidron at Committee stage, the government committed to consider how to improve and expedite the process for preservation of a child’s social media data where a coroner is investigating the child’s death. As part of this commitment, we have tabled an amendment to the existing statutory process which will require coroners in England and Wales to notify Ofcom within five working days of all reported deaths involving a child aged five or above, unless the coroner is satisfied that such data is of no relevance to the child’s death. A request for Ofcom to issue services with a data preservation notice (“DPN”) will therefore become automatic in these non-excepted cases.

To support these changes, the Secretary of State will exercise existing powers to specify in regulations the kinds of online services that should receive a DPN automatically in cases in which the coroner has not been informed of, or cannot identify in the time available, a particular service of interest. The new clause also amends the existing regulation-making power in section 101(E1)(a) of the Online Safety Act 2023 to provide explicit vires for the regulations to include an ambulatory reference, if needed, to external documents as amended from time to time; for example, to research or other publications which identify which services are most popular with children.

The new clause applies to England and Wales.

Drafting amendment (amendment to clause 217)

This amendment removes a provision which is not needed, as the extent of clause 212 (extradition) is provided for by clause 217(2)(z).

We also attach supplementary delegated powers and ECHR memorandums.

We are copying this letter to Lord Cameron of Lochiel, Lord Sandhurst, Baroness Doocey, Lord Marks of Henley-on-Thames, Lord Clement-Jones, Baroness Brinton, Baroness Ramsey of Wall Heath (Chair, Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee), Lord Alton of Liverpool (Chair, Joint Committee on Human Rights), Baroness Kidron, Helen Grant, Chris Philp, Matt Vickers, Max Wilkinson and Luke Taylor. We are also placing a copy of the letter and enclosures in the library of the House.

Yours ever,

Lord Hanson of Flint

Baroness Levitt KC