Where a Stage 1 Report declines to assess the evidential basis of competing claims, it does not remain neutral; it fails to discharge the scrutiny role on which Parliament depends. 2 The Central Claim Relied Upon in the Stage 1 Report The Stage 1 Report repeatedly records a central counter-claim: that creating an offence of paying for, or agreeing to pay for, the performance of a sexual act may place women in prostitution at increased risk of harm, including through reduced safety, displacement, and loss of screening practices.