To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when her Department plans to publish the responses received to the consultation letter of 26 September 2008 on proposals for prostitution legislation; (242662)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to publish the responses to her Department’s letter dated 26 September 2008 asking for views on her proposals arising out of the Tackling Demand for Prostitution review. (250710)

The Government wrote to a range of interested organisations on 26 September to seek their views on the proposed legislation. We received 67 responses from a variety of organisations representing the voluntary sector, statutory partners, local authorities and representatives of persons involved in prostitution and the lap-dancing industry. This was not a formal consultation and we did not indicate to potential respondents that their responses would be published. We therefore do not feel it appropriate to do so, although individual organisations are, of course, free to publicise their own views.

The issues involved here have also been subject to detailed scrutiny and discussion during the passage of the Policing and Crime Bill.