To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Department's competitive tender process for a research project on the impact of sex work in the UK, whether (a) an assessment was made of the campaigning activities of those academic institutes that bid and (b) criteria were applied in that process to ensure academic independence.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department made an assessment of the evidence on the Nordic model which the Centre for Gender and Violence Research at Bristol University submitted to the 2016 Home Affairs Select Committee inquiry into prostitution before awarding that university a contract to carry out research into the impact of sex work in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to ensure the objectivity of the research commissioned by his Department into the impact of sex work in the UK.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans he has in place to review the final report of his Department's research project into the impact of sex work in the UK.

The Home Office has provided £150,000 to fund research specifically into the nature and prevalence of prostitution in England and Wales. The research was awarded via fair and open competition. As part of the tendering process, each applicant was asked how they would conduct this work in an impartial manner.

Each of the bidders that applied to carry out this work had previous experience of researching issues related to prostitution and sex work, and set out relevant experience in their application. This was reviewed by the Department before the award was made.

The University of Bristol were awarded the contract and are currently undertaking the work.

As part of the research, the University of Bristol research team are running a survey to seek input from those with a range of views and experiences. Officials and Ministers are regularly monitoring the progress of the research, and it will be reviewed prior to publication in spring 2019.