Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what number of people have been arrested as a result of mistaken identity due to Live Facial Recognition in the last year.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office is not aware of anyone being arrested as a result of mistaken identity, due to live facial recognition in the last year. Forces also publish information about their deployments on their website. More details on LFR deployments can be found in the Met Police Force report Live Facial Recognition Annual Report September 2025.
Police use of live facial recognition is subject to safeguards that are designed to minimise the risk of misidentifications. These are set out in the Authorised Professional Practice guidance by the College of Policing found here: Live facial recognition | College of Policing]. They must also comply with data protection, equality, and human rights laws and are subject to the Information Commissioner’s and Equality and Human Rights Commission’s oversight.
Following a possible live facial recognition alert, it is always a police officer on the ground who will decide what action, if any, to take. Facial recognition technology is not automated decision making – police officers and trained operators will always make the decisions about whether and how to use any suggested matches. This means that the technology is not the deciding factor on any arrest.
In November we launched a 10 public consultation, ending on 12 February to help shape a new framework on biometrics, facial recognition and similar technologies.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, is he will publish the list of companies who have had (a) their license to sponsor skilled and temporary workers revoked and b) their license since reinstated in each of the last five years.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The register of licensed sponsors can be found on the Home Office website at: Register of licensed sponsors: workers - GOV.UK
This is a live document that shows which sponsors are currently fully active and the absence of a sponsor from the list signals that they are either suspended or revoked.
There are currently no plans to publish named lists of revoked or reinstated sponsors, although we do publish data on action taken against sponsors which can be found at: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to women's State Pension age on retirement insurance schemes for vulnerable individuals.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The precise design of any benefits under an insurance policy is a matter for the insurer and the policy holder and is not covered in Department for Work and Pensions legislation.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the £100,000 earnings threshold for free childcare on incentives to work.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is our 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 our Plan for Change.
The working parent entitlement aims to support parents to return to work or to work more hours if they wish. To be eligible, parents must expect to earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at National Minimum Wage and less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year. The minimum income threshold rises in line with National Minimum Wage increases at the beginning of the financial year.
The government needs to use public funds in a way that provides value for money and considers it reasonable to target this funding at those individuals earning under £100,000 adjusted net income. Only a small proportion of parents earn over the £100,000 adjusted net income maximum threshold. Parents who earn over the maximum income threshold can still claim the universal 15 hours for three and four-year-olds in England.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will update the Computer Misuse Act 1990 to give greater protection to cyber security professionals.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government is conducting an ongoing review of the Computer Misuse Act.
As part of the review, we are reviewing how we can better support legitimate cybersecurity researchers so they can operate within a clear and supportive legal framework, while maintaining robust safeguards.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of student loan repayment thresholds, tax thresholds and fiscal drag on incentives to work for people with plan 2 student loans.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government is making fair and necessary choices on tax so it can deliver on the public’s priorities. Everyone is being asked to contribute to support these goals, but the Government is keeping the contribution as low as possible by pursuing a programme of reform to fix longstanding issues in the tax system – modernising it, and addressing unequal and unfair treatment, while ensuring the wealthiest contribute more.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the plastic bag levy at lowering use; and whether she plans to introduce further measures to reduce the use of single-use plastic bags.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government’s assessment is that the single-use carrier bag charge has been highly effective in reducing the use of single-use plastic bags in England. Since the charge was introduced in 2015, sales of single-use plastic carrier bags sold by the main supermarket retailers have fallen by almost 98%, a reduction from 7.6 billion bags in 2014 to 164 million in 2024/25.
The charge has also helped reduce the littering of plastic bags. Reports from the Marine Conservation Society indicate a fall from an average of 13 bags found on beaches in 2013 to just 3 in 2021.
In May 2021, the Government increased the minimum charge from 5p to 10p and extended it to all retailers to reinforce this progress and create a level playing field across the sector.
The Government remains committed to moving to a circular economy for plastics and will continue to take a systematic, evidence-based approach to reducing unnecessary single-use plastics and encouraging reuse solutions. We will continue to review the latest evidence on single-use plastic carrier bags.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring online retailers to offer a choice of delivery couriers.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The department currently has no plans to require retailers to offer a choice of delivery couriers to consumers. This is a commercial decision for the business to make. Consumers are encouraged to provide feedback and suggestions to businesses directly. This encourages businesses to adapt and fairly compete based on demand.
Under consumer legislation, the trader is liable if anything goes wrong with the consumer’s parcel including goods arriving in a damaged condition and late or lost deliveries.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including medication for the treatment of Parkinson's disease in the medical exemption scheme.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Broxtowe on 20 January 2026 to Question 106198.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has his department made of the potential impact of access targets on continuity of care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government values continuity in general practice, but this is not inconsistent with efforts to improve access, such as via the 24-hour access target where urgent treatment is required.
In the 2025/26 contract, one of the domains of the Capacity and Access Improvement Payment, worth £29.2 million, incentivises primary care networks to risk stratify their patients in accordance with need for continuity. This allows general practitioners (GPs) to deliver care to meet the specific needs of their patients.
We are investing an additional £1.1 billion in GPs to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.4 billion in 2025/26, which is the biggest cash increase in over a decade. The 8.9% boost to the GP Contract in 2025/26 is greater than the 5.8% growth to the National Health Service budget as a whole.
Over ten million more GP appointments have been delivered in the 12 months to September 2025 compared to the same period last year, building capacity for continuity of care and improving access so that patients can be seen when they need to be in primary care. Patient satisfaction with access has improved significantly, rising from 61% in July 2024 to 74% in July 2025, marking a 13-percentage-point increase over the last year.