Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the pause on the use of biometric facial recognition systems in schools in North Ayrshire Council to allow the Information Commissioner’s Office to investigate their legality, what discussions they have had with the Information Commissioner’s Office about when they will publish their findings; and why such technology is being rolled out in schools before the findings are published.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and this response outlines the information for England only.
The decision to use biometric technology rests entirely with individual schools and colleges, who must ensure that the use of biometric data complies with all relevant legislation. The department does provide guidance, which makes it clear that schools must comply with the law when implementing biometric technologies, including the Data Protection Act 2018, UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.
In July 2022, the department published a revised version of the guidance, ‘Protection of biometric data of children in schools and colleges’, to provide support on the use of automated biometric recognition systems.
Whilst the department has not held discussions with the Information Commissioner’s Office on the schools in North Ayrshire Council, the department has engaged with the Information Commissioner’s Office on the department’s updated guidance.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Department for Education issuing advice that “live facial recognition technology is not appropriate in schools or colleges”, what assessment they have made of Smestow Academy in Wolverhampton using live face and body scanning in classrooms; and what discussions they have had with the Academy about it.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and this response outlines the information for England only.
The decision to use biometric technology rests entirely with individual schools and colleges, who must ensure that the use of biometric data complies with all relevant legislation. The department does provide guidance, which makes it clear that schools must comply with the law when implementing biometric technologies, including the Data Protection Act 2018, UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.
In July 2022, the department published a revised version of the guidance, ‘Protection of biometric data of children in schools and colleges’, to provide support on the use of automated biometric recognition systems.
Whilst the department has not held discussions with the Information Commissioner’s Office on the schools in North Ayrshire Council, the department has engaged with the Information Commissioner’s Office on the department’s updated guidance.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many meetings they have had with the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner in the last three years on the issue of the use of biometric technologies in schools.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The decision to use biometric technology rests entirely with individual schools and colleges. Schools and colleges are legally responsible, as per the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Protection of Freedoms Act and Data Protection Act for any data they gather and use.
However, in the department there is a team of three officials who work on a range of policy areas relating to health and safety in schools. They also have, as part of their work, responsibility for the provision of guidance for schools and colleges linked to these areas. This includes, amongst others, the non-statutory ‘protection of biometric information of children in schools and colleges’ guidance, which is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/692116/Protection_of_Biometric_Information.pdf.
The department published the current version of this guidance to support schools and colleges in 2018. It replaced the ‘protection of children’s biometric information in schools’ guidance from 2012. The department has also publicly committed to updating the 2018 version of the guidance to reflect changes in legislation, replacing the Data Protection Act 1998 with the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR.
The department has not had any meetings with private companies to discuss the use of biometric technologies in schools in the last five years. This is because schools and colleges have the autonomy to choose whether to use biometric technology and, if so, to select the most appropriate provider. However, the department does work closely with others from across government, including the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the Home Office and the Information Commissioner’s Office on this issue.
Whilst the office of the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner has no statutory regulatory function in the oversight of automated biometric technology used in schools, the department has met with the Commissioner’s Office officials recently to explain the purpose of the department’s guidance and will continue to engage with them as appropriate going forward.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what meetings they have had with private companies to discuss the use of biometric technologies in schools in the last five years; and in each case, which companies they met with and on what dates.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The decision to use biometric technology rests entirely with individual schools and colleges. Schools and colleges are legally responsible, as per the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Protection of Freedoms Act and Data Protection Act for any data they gather and use.
However, in the department there is a team of three officials who work on a range of policy areas relating to health and safety in schools. They also have, as part of their work, responsibility for the provision of guidance for schools and colleges linked to these areas. This includes, amongst others, the non-statutory ‘protection of biometric information of children in schools and colleges’ guidance, which is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/692116/Protection_of_Biometric_Information.pdf.
The department published the current version of this guidance to support schools and colleges in 2018. It replaced the ‘protection of children’s biometric information in schools’ guidance from 2012. The department has also publicly committed to updating the 2018 version of the guidance to reflect changes in legislation, replacing the Data Protection Act 1998 with the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR.
The department has not had any meetings with private companies to discuss the use of biometric technologies in schools in the last five years. This is because schools and colleges have the autonomy to choose whether to use biometric technology and, if so, to select the most appropriate provider. However, the department does work closely with others from across government, including the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the Home Office and the Information Commissioner’s Office on this issue.
Whilst the office of the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner has no statutory regulatory function in the oversight of automated biometric technology used in schools, the department has met with the Commissioner’s Office officials recently to explain the purpose of the department’s guidance and will continue to engage with them as appropriate going forward.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what policy guidance they have sent to schools in the last five years on the use of biometric technology in schools; and on what dates each set of guidance was issued.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The decision to use biometric technology rests entirely with individual schools and colleges. Schools and colleges are legally responsible, as per the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Protection of Freedoms Act and Data Protection Act for any data they gather and use.
However, in the department there is a team of three officials who work on a range of policy areas relating to health and safety in schools. They also have, as part of their work, responsibility for the provision of guidance for schools and colleges linked to these areas. This includes, amongst others, the non-statutory ‘protection of biometric information of children in schools and colleges’ guidance, which is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/692116/Protection_of_Biometric_Information.pdf.
The department published the current version of this guidance to support schools and colleges in 2018. It replaced the ‘protection of children’s biometric information in schools’ guidance from 2012. The department has also publicly committed to updating the 2018 version of the guidance to reflect changes in legislation, replacing the Data Protection Act 1998 with the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR.
The department has not had any meetings with private companies to discuss the use of biometric technologies in schools in the last five years. This is because schools and colleges have the autonomy to choose whether to use biometric technology and, if so, to select the most appropriate provider. However, the department does work closely with others from across government, including the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the Home Office and the Information Commissioner’s Office on this issue.
Whilst the office of the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner has no statutory regulatory function in the oversight of automated biometric technology used in schools, the department has met with the Commissioner’s Office officials recently to explain the purpose of the department’s guidance and will continue to engage with them as appropriate going forward.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many full-time equivalent staff at the Department of Education have responsibility for biometric technology use in schools; and what are the job titles of each post.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The decision to use biometric technology rests entirely with individual schools and colleges. Schools and colleges are legally responsible, as per the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Protection of Freedoms Act and Data Protection Act for any data they gather and use.
However, in the department there is a team of three officials who work on a range of policy areas relating to health and safety in schools. They also have, as part of their work, responsibility for the provision of guidance for schools and colleges linked to these areas. This includes, amongst others, the non-statutory ‘protection of biometric information of children in schools and colleges’ guidance, which is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/692116/Protection_of_Biometric_Information.pdf.
The department published the current version of this guidance to support schools and colleges in 2018. It replaced the ‘protection of children’s biometric information in schools’ guidance from 2012. The department has also publicly committed to updating the 2018 version of the guidance to reflect changes in legislation, replacing the Data Protection Act 1998 with the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR.
The department has not had any meetings with private companies to discuss the use of biometric technologies in schools in the last five years. This is because schools and colleges have the autonomy to choose whether to use biometric technology and, if so, to select the most appropriate provider. However, the department does work closely with others from across government, including the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the Home Office and the Information Commissioner’s Office on this issue.
Whilst the office of the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner has no statutory regulatory function in the oversight of automated biometric technology used in schools, the department has met with the Commissioner’s Office officials recently to explain the purpose of the department’s guidance and will continue to engage with them as appropriate going forward.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of facial recognition and other biometric technology in schools.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has not undertaken any assessment of the use of facial recognition and other biometric technologies in schools or their interoperability with other government agencies.
Any decision to use an automated biometric system should be taken after careful consideration by the headteacher and governors, and after appropriate consultation with pupils and parents. If they choose to do so, they must comply with all relevant legislation set out in the Data Protection Act 2018, UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the interoperability of facial recognition and other biometric technologies used in schools with other government agencies such the police or health services.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has not undertaken any assessment of the use of facial recognition and other biometric technologies in schools or their interoperability with other government agencies.
Any decision to use an automated biometric system should be taken after careful consideration by the headteacher and governors, and after appropriate consultation with pupils and parents. If they choose to do so, they must comply with all relevant legislation set out in the Data Protection Act 2018, UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Barran on 21 October (HL Deb col 381), what progress they have made on the education sector certification scheme.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has now finalised the programme of work and anticipate that we will be placing a copy of the work in the House of Lords Library by the end of March 2022.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much funding the University of Huddersfield has received from the Government for each of the last four years; and for what purposes this funding was provided.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on the finances of higher education providers in the UK.
Total income from government sources [1] at the University of Huddersfield in the academic years 2015/16, 2016/17, and 2018/19 is in the attached table. It has been estimated from Table 7, https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/finances/table-7 (income analysed by source), and Table 6, https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/finances/table-6 (income towards tuition fees), of HESA’s open data: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/finances.
Data for the 2019/20 academic year are not yet available for the University of Huddersfield.
Data for the 2017/18 academic year are not available, as a breakdown of tuition fees by source of fee has not been collected in 2018/19.
Full details of the income categories collected by HESA are available at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/definitions/finances.
[1] Identified as income categories where funding comes from government departments or those largely funded by them.