Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what statutory basis live facial recognition technology is deployed by police forces in England and Wales; and whether her Department plans to introduce primary legislation before any expansion of its use.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
There is an established basis for the police to use live facial recognition technology. When deploying facial recognition technology, police forces must comply with existing legislation including the Human Rights Act 1998, Equality Act 2010, Data Protection Act 2018, Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, as well as their own published policies. For live facial recognition, police forces must also follow the College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice (APP) on Live Facial Recognition. Forces also need to comply with the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice, which is supplemented by published policing policies.
On 4 December the Government launched a consultation on law enforcement use of biometrics, facial recognition and similar technologies. Although there is a legal basis for police use of facial recognition, the current legal framework is complicated, inflexible and difficult to understand, which in turn limits the extent to which facial recognition and similar technologies can be confidently used.
That is why the government is consulting on a new legal framework to inform potential legislation.
Asked by: Lord Wasserman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what evidence there is that the introduction of Police and Crime Commissioners weakened local police accountability; and whether they will publish any such evidence.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) were established in 2012 with the promise of making the police more accountable and connected to the communities they serve. But data shows that awareness of PCCs has remained low, with only a quarter of electors turning out at last year’s elections.
Furthermore, as recognised in a House Of Commons research briefing on Police and Crime Commissioners published in October 2024, despite the efforts of many individual PCCs the model of a direct 1:1 relationship between elected Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables has not always facilitated effective management of police forces; and the model has siloed policing under a separate directly elected individual, creating structural, and in some cases political barriers, to collaboration across local services.
We will work with policing and local government stakeholders to ensure that future governance arrangements maintain strong oversight of policing, whilst maximising the join-up of local services.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to allow for Parliamentary scrutiny of proposals to expand the use of live facial recognition technology.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
There is an established basis for the police to use live facial recognition technology. When deploying facial recognition technology, police forces must comply with existing legislation including the Human Rights Act 1998, Equality Act 2010, Data Protection Act 2018, Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, as well as their own published policies. For live facial recognition, police forces must also follow the College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice (APP) on Live Facial Recognition. Forces also need to comply with the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice, which is supplemented by published policing policies.
On 4 December the Government launched a consultation on law enforcement use of biometrics, facial recognition and similar technologies. Although there is a legal basis for police use of facial recognition, the current legal framework is complicated, inflexible and difficult to understand, which in turn limits the extent to which facial recognition and similar technologies can be confidently used.
That is why the government is consulting on a new legal framework to inform potential legislation.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the rates of false positives generated by live facial recognition systems.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Police use of live facial recognition (LFR) is governed by equality, human rights, and data protection laws, and can only be used for a policing purpose where necessary, proportionate, and fair. LFR technology is not automated decision-making; it suggests possible matches not definite ones. Following a possible alert, it is always a specially trained police officer on the ground who decides what action, if any, to take.
Facial recognition algorithms provided by or procured with Home Office funding for police use are required to be independently tested for bias. Independent testing is important because it helps determine the setting in which an algorithm can safely and fairly be used.
The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has independently tested the LFR algorithm used by the police. At the settings used by South Wales Police, the Metropolitan Police Service, and in the 10 LFR vans rolled out in August 2025, the NPL found that the algorithm had an 89% chance of correctly identifying someone on the watchlist of people wanted by the police or the courts. At worst, the algorithm had a 1 in 6,000 chance of generating a false alert on a watchlist containing 10,000 images. In practice, police have reported that the false alert rate has been far better than this. Importantly, the NPL also found no statistically significant differences in performance based on gender, age, or ethnicity, at the settings used by the police.
The Government is committed to ensuring that facial recognition technology is used proportionately, responsibly, and with strong safeguards in place to protect the public. On 4 December 2025, we therefore launched a public consultation that sets out proposals for a new legal framework and strengthened oversight of facial recognition and other biometric technologies. The Government proposes creating a new oversight body to consolidate and clarify existing regulatory roles, ensuring responsible use of these technologies.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will amend the terms of reference of the independent inquiry into grooming gangs to examine the role of religion and culture in the abuse.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs is a statutory inquiry, under the Inquiries Act 2005, with full powers to compel evidence.
The Home Secretary has published draft Terms of Reference, which include consideration of ethnicity, religion and culture. The Chair is currently consulting on these draft terms; however, the Home Secretary has made clear that the inclusion of ethnicity, religion and culture is not subject to change.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what powers the independent inquiry into grooming gangs will have to compel the production of evidence.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs is a statutory inquiry, under the Inquiries Act 2005, with full powers to compel evidence.
The Home Secretary has published draft Terms of Reference, which include consideration of ethnicity, religion and culture. The Chair is currently consulting on these draft terms; however, the Home Secretary has made clear that the inclusion of ethnicity, religion and culture is not subject to change.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle phone theft in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Mobile phone theft causes significant distress to victims and fuels wider criminality, and the Government is determined to reduce it.
Our aim is to disrupt, design-out and disincentivise mobile phone theft. We are working closely with law enforcement partners, the tech companies and other industry representatives to make swift progress to deliver practical and effective measures to crack down on this criminality and break the business model of mobile phone thieves.
This includes relevant partners playing their part to disrupt the resale of stolen phones, explore technological solutions to make devices harder to register or resell, and helping the public protect themselves and their devices. In addition, the Government is giving the police the power to enter premises to search for and seize stolen items which have been electronically tracked to the premises without requiring a warrant from a court, where it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a warrant without seriously prejudicing the entry and search purpose. This will significantly enhance the ability of the police to act swiftly and effectively.
The Government will deliver real results on crime by reducing opportunities for theft and ensuring offenders are caught and that victims see swift and effective action.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps does she plan to take to amend the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 to reflect the absorption of the Police and Crime Commissioner role into that of metro mayors.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government committed in the English Devolution White Paper to transfer Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) functions to mayors of strategic authorities by default, wherever possible.
The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, currently before Parliament, contains provisions that amend relevant primary legislation, including the Police Reform and Social Responsibility 2011 Act, to achieve this aim. Subject to the Bill receiving Royal Assent, transfers of functions to mayors will take place in areas where the boundaries of the mayoral strategic authority and policing area align, at a date set by the Secretary of State by Order.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Chief Constable of Norfolk on levels of organised criminal activity in Great Yarmouth.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is committed to tackling the threat from Serious and Organised Crime (SOC) and ensuring that law enforcement has the resources it needs to do so effectively. Regional Organised Crime Units (ROCUs), which are collaborations between multiple police forces, play a vital role in supporting forces and partners to address SOC threats. Norfolk Constabulary form part of the Eastern Region ROCU.
Significant investment has been made in strengthening ROCUs. Between April 2021 and March 2023, Chief Constables, PCCs and Mayors allocated 725 additional officers to ROCUs. With continued Home Office support, ROCUs have grown further, with 2,209 officers in place as of April 2025—an increase of over 60% since March 2021. These officers are tackling a range of SOC threats, helping to reduce crime and keep communities safe.
Additionally, Clear, Hold, Build (CHB) is a place-based, three phased operational framework, designed by the Home Office which aims to reduce the Serious and Organised Crime (SOC) threat and crime levels in high-harm local areas and build sustained community resilience which prevents this harm returning.
There are currently 65 CHB sites operational in England and Wales, across 42 police forces.
Ultimately, operational decisions, including how resources are allocated to reduce levels of organised crime, are matters for Chief Constables and directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), and Mayors with PCC functions, based on their local knowledge and experience.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with mobile phone companies on improving anti-theft technology.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is determined to crack down on snatch theft and other crimes which target people's mobile devices. It is working closely with industry and law enforcement to help reduce these crimes.
The Government hosted a mobile phone summit on 6 February, at which all participants, including law enforcement, the Mayor of London, mobile manufacturers and other technology companies, agreed to collaborate in tackling this problem. Since the summit, the Government has continued to engage closely with relevant partners as they progress their work to develop solutions to break the business model of mobile phone thieves.
The Minister for Policing and Crime and officials continue to hold discussions to monitor progress with relevant partners, including technology companies; most recently this month.