Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what responsibility her Department has for ensuring media literacy.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

I refer my hon. Friend, the member for Oxford East, to the answer of 1 May 2025 to Question 47185.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what reporting public bodies are undertaking on the (a) system performance, (b) community impact and (c) compliance with inclusion obligations of the deployment of British Sign Language AI.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

85294: We are not aware of any digital public services currently using AI generated BSL content. The Service Manual and Service Standard guide service teams across the public sector on the design and development of digital services, including those enabled by AI.

A service must be accessible to everyone who needs it, including services only used by public servants. Digital services must meet level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.2) as a minimum and service teams must include disabled people and people who use assistive technologies in the design of those services.

The compliance of central government digital services with the WCAG regulations is monitored by the Government Digital Service.

85295: In addition to above (85294) c) services must make sure the non-digital parts of a service are accessible. For example, government departments must make sure that users who are deaf or have a speech impairment are offered a way to contacting the service (by text, email or in person with a British Sign Language translator or lip reader).

This standard would still apply if the service used BSL content that was AI generated.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 26 September 2025 to Question 70899 on Nurseries: Finance, whether her Department has made an assessment of the financial viability of private equity-backed nursery providers.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

It is the department’s ambition that all families have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on the Plan for Change.

As laid out in the Best Start in Life strategy, the department therefore keeps the structure of the market, including the role of private equity, debt, profit levels, and the prices that parents pay, under close review.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of the conflict in Sudan on children.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The conflict in Sudan has had a devastating impact on civilians and especially women and children. According to UNICEF, six million children have become displaced and approximately 23 million children are exposed to violence, abuse and exploitation. Conflict Related Sexual Violence is endemic and young girls continue to be targeted. UNICEF also assessed that nearly 90 per cent of Sudan's school age children (17 million out of a total of 19 million children in Sudan) are no longer in school with armed violence cited as the main reason. The UK continues to support children through the UN-led Sudan Humanitarian Fund which provides support to local responders, such as the Emergency Response Rooms, who provide humanitarian assistance across Sudan. We also support UNICEF who are providing lifesaving nutrition programmes to some of the most vulnerable children. We consistently use our position as penholder at the UN Security Council on Sudan to push the warring parties to honour the Jeddah Declaration and uphold humanitarian law and protect civilians. As leader of the Core Group on Sudan at the UN Human Rights Council, we spearheaded the renewal of the Fact-Finding Mission's mandate which investigates human rights abuses and violations across Sudan. Those suspected of targeting, abusing or exploiting children must face justice.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what mechanism his Department has in place on utilising Deaf-led expertise on British Sign Language in AI procurement.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The procurement of Artificial intelligent tools as a result of a new or amended digital service requires compliance with the GDS Service Manual (https://www.gov.uk/service-manual) and a service assessment. This manual includes the inclusion of accessibility and assisted digital and user research, to ensure procurement decisions cover a range of accessibility needs, based on user feedback.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether procurement policy notes issued by his Department provide guidance on British Sign Language AI commissioning.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The procurement of Artificial intelligent tools as a result of a new or amended digital service requires compliance with the GDS Service Manual (https://www.gov.uk/service-manual) and a service assessment. This manual includes the inclusion of accessibility and assisted digital and user research, to ensure procurement decisions cover a range of accessibility needs, based on user feedback.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department incorporates (a) Deaf-led infrastructure investment and (b) linguistic inclusion in social value assessments for procurement.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office, in compliance with the Social Value Act 2012 and Procurement Policy Note 002 utilises the Government’s social value model toolkit to apply social value to all above-threshold procurements.

In practice, this involves selecting one out of eight Social Value Outcomes which is then evaluated as part of a procurement exercise. One of the choices which can be selected is 'Fair Work,' which, when selected, allows us to require suppliers to demonstrate benefits in deaf-led infrastructure investment and linguistic inclusion.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether British Sign Language AI procurement is subject to algorithmic impact assessments.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

We are not aware of any cross-Government British Sign Language AI procurement.

The government has committed to ensure that algorithmic tools used in the public sector are used safely and transparently and is taking active steps to ensure this. The Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard is mandatory for all government departments. It communicates information about how and why algorithmic tools are used, who is responsible for them, how they are embedded in broader decision-making processes, their technical specifications, and relevant risk mitigations and impact assessments.

The Data Ethics Framework guides appropriate and responsible data use in government and the wider public sector. It helps public servants understand ethical considerations, address these within their projects, and encourages responsible innovation.

Additionally, the Service Manual and Service Standard guide service teams across the public sector on the design and development of digital services, including those enabled by AI.

A service must be accessible to everyone who needs it, including services only used by public servants. Digital services must meet level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.2) as a minimum and service teams must include disabled people and people who use assistive technologies in the design of those services. WCAG 2.2 addresses the needs of people who are deaf or hard of hearing primarily through guidelines for multimedia, such as providing captions, transcripts, and sign language interpretations.

The compliance of central government digital services with the WCAG regulations is monitored by the Government Digital Service.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what British Sign Language (BSL) standards are being used in (a) government and (b) public services in the commissioning of BSL AI.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Providing BSL translations of pre-recorded audio and video content is a WCAG 2.2 AAA criterion. As outlined in the Government Service Standard, all digital government services must as a minimum meet Level AA. AAA is best practice.

Current best practice guidance for use of BSL in digital public services advises that BSL videos are independently assured by a Deaf-led BSL supplier.

We are not aware of any digital public services currently using AI generated BSL content. No specific accessibility standards for this use case of AI are currently applied and would be guided by both the government’s Data Ethics Framework and Service Standard.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to provide oversight of the monitoring of the (a) quality of, (b) adequacy of engagement with deaf people and (b) other aspects of the deployment of British Sign Language AI systems in public services.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government Digital Service set and assess the cross government digital service standard. Before going live, services are assessed against this 14-point standard which includes the service team providing evidence for how the service is accessible to everyone who needs it.

To meet the standard and assessment, digital services must conduct research with disabled people, including Deaf users and where appropriate to the service provision, those who use sign language or a sign language interpreter to interact with the service.

Services must make sure any BSL video is culturally appropriate by working with the BSL community, testing it, or getting feedback.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to monitor the quality of the deployment of British Sign Language AI across public services; and whether Deaf people have been consulted on that deployment.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

85294: We are not aware of any digital public services currently using AI generated BSL content. The Service Manual and Service Standard guide service teams across the public sector on the design and development of digital services, including those enabled by AI.

A service must be accessible to everyone who needs it, including services only used by public servants. Digital services must meet level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.2) as a minimum and service teams must include disabled people and people who use assistive technologies in the design of those services.

The compliance of central government digital services with the WCAG regulations is monitored by the Government Digital Service.

85295: In addition to above (85294) c) services must make sure the non-digital parts of a service are accessible. For example, government departments must make sure that users who are deaf or have a speech impairment are offered a way to contacting the service (by text, email or in person with a British Sign Language translator or lip reader).

This standard would still apply if the service used BSL content that was AI generated.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Competition and Markets Authority's report on Infant Formula and Follow-on Formula Market Study, publish on 14 February 2025, what steps his Department is taking to improve the regulation of the powdered baby milk industry.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government remains committed to giving every child the best start in life. Whilst breastfeeding has significant health benefits, we recognise that for those families that cannot or choose not to breastfeed, it is vital that they have access to infant formula that is affordable and high quality.

The infant formula regulations set robust nutritional and compositional standards which mean that all infant formula for sale in the United Kingdom are suitable for meeting the nutritional requirements of babies regardless of the price or brand. The regulations restrict the inappropriate marketing and promotion of infant formula that can mislead consumers and may discourage breastfeeding.

The Government welcomes the Competition and Markets Authority’s market study into the UK’s infant formula and follow-on formula market. We have been working closely with the devolved administrations to consider its recommendations. We will respond in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the affordability of powdered milk in relation to Healthy Start vouchers.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The funding for Healthy Start can be used to buy, or be put towards the cost of, fresh, frozen, or tinned fruit and vegetables, fresh, dried, and tinned pulses, and milk. It can also be put towards the cost of infant formula.

The Healthy Start scheme is kept under review and in April 2026 the value of the weekly payments will increase by 10%.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations she has made to the parties to the conflict in Sudan on the operation of checkpoints hindering internally displaced persons’ access to safety (a) between El Fasher and Tawila and (b) elsewhere in Sudan.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

I refer the Hon. Member to the statement on Sudan made to the House by the Foreign Secretary on 18 November.

Found: pleased that I have been able to have regular meetings with Baroness Chapman and previously with Anneliese Dodds

Found: Thomas–Symonds MP as Minister for the Constitution and European Relations in the Cabinet Office;  Anneliese Dodds

Found:  In February, the Minister for Development, Anneliese Dodds MP, resigned over cuts to Overseas Development