Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that deaths connected to sexual violence and abuse, including suicides amongst those who have experienced prolonged abuse, are properly recorded and reflected in Government policy.
Answered by Natalie Fleet - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Sexual offences are among the most harmful crimes in society and can have devastating impacts on victims, their loved ones, and our communities.
Our ‘Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-Government Strategy’ was published on 18 December 2025 and sets out our approach to halving violence against women and girls (VAWG) in decade. It includes several commitments to transform the response to sexual offences, such as ensuring there are specialist rape and sexual offences teams in every police force by 2029, introducing free independent legal advice for adult victims of rape, and fast-tracking rape cases.
The Home Office collects data on the number of homicides, including those with a sexual element, recorded by police forces in England and Wales. We recognise the importance of building a more comprehensive understanding of deaths that have resulted from VAWG. That is why we have committed to exploring the possibility of expanding the Domestic Homicide Project, which currently captures information from police forces on deaths which have occurred following domestic abuse, to all forms of fatal VAWG, including sexual violence and abuse.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to help tackle sexual offences; and what plans she has to update her Department's approach.
Answered by Natalie Fleet - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Sexual offences are among the most harmful crimes in society and can have devastating impacts on victims, their loved ones, and our communities.
Our ‘Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-Government Strategy’ was published on 18 December 2025 and sets out our approach to halving violence against women and girls (VAWG) in decade. It includes several commitments to transform the response to sexual offences, such as ensuring there are specialist rape and sexual offences teams in every police force by 2029, introducing free independent legal advice for adult victims of rape, and fast-tracking rape cases.
The Home Office collects data on the number of homicides, including those with a sexual element, recorded by police forces in England and Wales. We recognise the importance of building a more comprehensive understanding of deaths that have resulted from VAWG. That is why we have committed to exploring the possibility of expanding the Domestic Homicide Project, which currently captures information from police forces on deaths which have occurred following domestic abuse, to all forms of fatal VAWG, including sexual violence and abuse.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data are collected through the use of live facial recognition technology by police forces in England and Wales, where those data are stored, and how long they are retained.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Live Facial Recognition (LFR) technology uses live video footage of people passing an LFR camera in a public place and compares their images to a specific list of people wanted by the police (known as a watchlist).
Police use of facial recognition is governed by data protection, equality, and human rights laws. In addition, they must also comply with the Surveillance Camera Code, College of Policing guidance and all published policing policies. This means the technology can only be used for a policing purpose, where necessary, proportionate, and fair.
Operational guidance is provided by the College of Policing in the form of an Authorised Professional Practice (APP), which sets out when the police can use LFR and the categories of people they can look for and where images they use to compile the watchlist. Following a possible LFR alert, there is a requirement for a specially trained police officer to review it and decide what action, if any, to take. The police must immediately delete the biometric data of anyone the system does not match to the watchlist. The watchlist itself is destroyed after each deployment.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has issued on the storage, security, sharing, and deletion of data generated through the use of live facial recognition technology.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Live Facial Recognition (LFR) technology uses live video footage of people passing an LFR camera in a public place and compares their images to a specific list of people wanted by the police (known as a watchlist).
Police use of facial recognition is governed by data protection, equality, and human rights laws. In addition, they must also comply with the Surveillance Camera Code, College of Policing guidance and all published policing policies. This means the technology can only be used for a policing purpose, where necessary, proportionate, and fair.
Operational guidance is provided by the College of Policing in the form of an Authorised Professional Practice (APP), which sets out when the police can use LFR and the categories of people they can look for and where images they use to compile the watchlist. Following a possible LFR alert, there is a requirement for a specially trained police officer to review it and decide what action, if any, to take. The police must immediately delete the biometric data of anyone the system does not match to the watchlist. The watchlist itself is destroyed after each deployment.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what safeguards are in place to ensure (a) lawful and (b) proportionate use of live facial recognition technology by police forces in England and Wales.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Live Facial Recognition (LFR) technology uses live video footage of people passing an LFR camera in a public place and compares their images to a specific list of people wanted by the police (known as a watchlist).
Police use of facial recognition is governed by data protection, equality, and human rights laws. In addition, they must also comply with the Surveillance Camera Code, College of Policing guidance and all published policing policies. This means the technology can only be used for a policing purpose, where necessary, proportionate, and fair.
Operational guidance is provided by the College of Policing in the form of an Authorised Professional Practice (APP), which sets out when the police can use LFR and the categories of people they can look for and where images they use to compile the watchlist. Following a possible LFR alert, there is a requirement for a specially trained police officer to review it and decide what action, if any, to take. The police must immediately delete the biometric data of anyone the system does not match to the watchlist. The watchlist itself is destroyed after each deployment.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what criteria are used to determine when prisoners may be prohibited from communicating with the media.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Prison Service Instruction 37/2010 Prisoners' Access to the Media sets out the contact that prisoners are allowed to have with the media. The instruction includes details of the restrictions that are in place and the criteria taken into account when considering applications.
A copy can be found at the following link: Prisoners' access to the media: PSI 37/2010 - GOV.UK.