Joani Reid

Abercrombie House is a Government Property Agency (GPA) run building occupied by the FCDO. The GPA provides all facilities management services through several contracts including the contract with OCS. No individuals taking strike action are directly employed by the government.

The GPA is actively encouraging OCS and the PCS trade union to cooperate to resolve the dispute, including facilitating constructive dialogue between them.

The outcome of my Department’s review into volumetric concrete mixers was published on 18 March. This can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/volumetric-concrete-mixers-review

The implications for road safety, infrastructure, the environment, and maintaining fair competition in the market have all been considered as part of the review.

Bedrocan oils are a range of unlicensed cannabis-based products for medicinal use. These products have not been assessed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for safety, quality, or efficacy, or assessed by National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for clinical and cost effectiveness.

Bedrocan, and other unlicensed cannabis-based products for medicinal use, are available from independent providers across the United Kingdom, regulated by the Care Quality Commission. Unlicensed cannabis-based products for medicinal use can only be prescribed by, or under the direction of, a clinician on the General Medical Council Specialist Register. Prescribers of unlicensed medicines have increase medico-legal responsibilities and are responsible for the quality and availability of the medicine prescribed.

These products are not routinely prescribed on the National Health Service, as clinical guidelines from the NICE demonstrate a clear need for further evidence on the safety and effectiveness of unlicensed cannabis-based medicines to support prescribing decisions.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has issued two calls for research proposals and a highlight notice on medicinal cannabis. Manufacturers, including those for Bedrocan oils, are responsible for generating evidence to support the use of these products and to seek regulatory approval. The Government encourages manufacturers to do so and offers scientific and research advice from the MHRA and the NIHR.

The FCDO is awaiting a decision from HM Treasury on the Business Case submitted for the FCDO moving its joint HQ in Scotland from East Kilbride to Glasgow. The FCDO has not made any specific assessment of the impact to the local community of a decision to move out of East Kilbride. We do, of course, recognise that many of our staff live in East Kilbride and surrounding communities. Our focus remains on supporting them as we transition to Glasgow. We have also committed to ensuring the local community have access to information on future FCDO recruitment opportunities and our outreach is focused on helping enhance knowledge and understanding of the Civil Service as a future career option.

The Government recognises the serious and evolving threat posed by artificial intelligence being misused by offenders for child sexual abuse.

AI-generated child sexual abuse material is not a victimless crime; it often depicts real children, increasing the risk of contact abuse. The volume and realism of this material can make it increasingly challenging for safeguarding partners to identify and protect children. Offenders can also use these images to groom and blackmail children.

In September 2025, the Internet Watch Foundation revealed, for the first time, child sexual abuse images linked directly to AI chatbots, including examples designed to simulate sexual scenarios with child avatars.

We know offenders will seek every opportunity to exploit emerging and established technologies to facilitate their offending.

UK law is explicit. Child sexual abuse is illegal. We must all play our part to prevent the misuse of this technology being used to target our children.

This is why the UK Government has taken world-leading action to tackle this threat.

Working in partnership with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the Alan Turing Institute, and the Accelerated Capability Environment, the Home Office has led the Deepfake Detection Challenge. This initiative brought together experts and stakeholders to develop and evaluate detection tools, which are essential in addressing serious harms including online child sexual abuse. As offenders increasingly exploit AI, we must harness its potential for good.

A key outcome is the UK Government Benchmarking capability, enabling scientific evaluation of detection technologies. The next phase will continue to identify and benchmark AI-driven solutions.

Under the Crime and Policing Bill, creating, possessing, or distributing AI tools for child sexual abuse will carry penalties of up to five years’ imprisonment, with up to three years for “paedophile manuals” on how to use AI to abuse children.

We have recently announced a further amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill to empower authorised bodies- including AI developers and child protection organisations- to scrutinise AI systems to prevent them generating harmful content. This will help to improve safeguards within AI models to prevent them being misused to create child abuse material.

We recognise there are concerns about AI chatbots, or AI companions, and the risks of harm to children these may pose. At the recent Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, we confirmed that we are considering if all AI chatbots are covered by the Online Safety Act and what more may need to be done. If it requires legislation, then this is what we will do.

Where AI models fall under the Online Safety Act as a user-to-user service or an online search provider, companies are required to provide highly effective age assurance to protect children from exposure to harmful or inappropriate content.

The Online Safety Act lays the foundation for a safer online experience for children, but this is just the start of the conversation.

Our approach combines robust legislation, proactive technology safeguards, and international cooperation to keep children safe online and we will not hesitate to go further.

The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on grants at initial decision is published in table Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to the year ending September 2024. Data on grants of refugee status by location or accommodation type is not published.

For the safety and security of residents and staff at its accommodation sites, the Home Office does not publish detail of each site in use.

However, data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, by local authority and accommodation type, can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for the most recent stats release: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk.)

For the safety and security of residents and staff at its accommodation sites, the Home Office does not publish detail of each site in use.

However, data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, by local authority and accommodation type, can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for the most recent stats release: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk.)

For the safety and security of residents and staff at its accommodation sites, the Home Office does not publish detail of each site in use.

However, data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, by local authority and accommodation type, can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for the most recent stats release: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk.)