Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department collects on children with dyslexia to improve understanding of the number of children with dyslexia in schools, their support needs in the classroom and their educational outcomes.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Information on the numbers of children with dyslexia is not collected separately by the department. Dyslexia is included within the wider special educational need type of ‘Specific learning difficulties’ (SpLD).

All the information held by the department relating to children with SpLD is provided by schools via the school census. This data is also available for local authorities, enabling them to take informed decisions when supporting the needs of children in their communities.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department requires local authorities to collect in relation to the numbers of children with dyslexia in education in their area.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Information on the numbers of children with dyslexia is not collected separately by the department. Dyslexia is included within the wider special educational need type of ‘Specific learning difficulties’ (SpLD).

All the information held by the department relating to children with SpLD is provided by schools via the school census. This data is also available for local authorities, enabling them to take informed decisions when supporting the needs of children in their communities.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Defending Democracy Taskforce has made an assessment of the potential impact of convicted terrorists standing for elected public office on levels of national security.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Defending Democracy Taskforce coordinates work across Government to continually review and respond to the full range of threats to our democratic system, working closely with the security and intelligence agencies, law enforcement and other partners.

I refer the Hon Member to the question answered by Minister McGovern on 9 March 2026.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to update NHS prescribing guidance for menopause, including first-line use of transdermal oestrogen gel and access to testosterone for women with confirmed low blood levels and significant cardiovascular symptoms.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to improving women’s health outcomes, including through better awareness and support for menopause, and we will continue to work with NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to ensure patients and clinicians have access to clear, evidence-based guidance.

NICE guideline on menopause was last updated in November 2024. It provides guidance on best practice that prescribers are expected to take fully into account in the care and treatment of individual patients.

NICE intends to update its recommendations on starting and stopping hormone replacement therapy, including managing unscheduled bleeding. There are no current plans to update other recommendations at this time, including the use of transdermal oestrogen gel and access to testosterone for women with confirmed low blood levels and significant cardiovascular symptoms. This guideline will be reviewed if there is new evidence that is likely to change the recommendations.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the use of biometric data by private contractors such as Yoti in publicly accessible digital identity systems on levels of public safety.

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

The government considered the potential public safety implications of digital identity services, including the use of biometric data, when developing the Digital Verification Services (DVS) trust framework. The trust framework – developed by the Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA), a part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) - sets out requirements governing the provision of digital identity services.

The trust framework sets out rules covering roles, principles, policies, procedures and standards and legislation covering areas such as security, privacy, fraud prevention, governance and reliability. These requirements are intended to support safe and trustworthy provision of digital identity services.

Where a certified service uses biometric technologies, the trust framework includes specific requirements relating to the performance and security of those technologies. Providers are required to test biometric systems against recognised industry standards, to help ensure they are accurate, secure and inclusive.

The trust framework does not replace or supplement existing legal obligations relating to data protection. Service providers are required to comply with the data protection legislation when processing personal data.

Companies who wish to be included in the government’s online register of digital identity and attribute services must have their services independently audited and certified against the trust framework by accredited certification bodies. Yoti has services certified against the trust framework, and recorded on the online register. Certification does not constitute a government endorsement of any particular company or service. However, the trust framework and its certification regime help to provide assurance that certified services meet the government’s standards for security and reliability.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her data protection polices of the enforcement action taken by the Agencia Española de Protección de Datos against Yoti in March 2026.

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

Organisations such as Yoti that process biometric data of UK users, through the provision of digital verification and age assurance services, have to comply with the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). As such, the processing must be fair, lawful, transparent and secure. Organisations must have a lawful basis for the processing of personal data under Article 6 of the UK GDPR. For processing of biometric and other sensitive data, they must also have a specific Article 9 condition, such as a user’s explicit consent.

DSIT monitor developments in this space and supports the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in providing guidance to organisations to help their compliance. The ICO, working with Ofcom, has recently published guidance on age assurance and is engaging with the age assurance industry through a programme of risk reviews.

The ICO can take enforcement action against those organisations that have breached the UK’s data protection legislation.