Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers are currently housed in Northern Ireland in hotels, initial accommodation, dispersal accommodation and contingency accommodation.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Data on asylum seekers in receipt of Home Office support in Northern Ireland is published by accommodation type and nationality in table Asy_D09 and by accommodation type and local authority in table Asy_D11 of the 'Asylum support detailed datasets’.
The latest data relates to as at 31 March 2026. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the timeliness of the Information Commissioner's Office in investigating complaints concerning the handling of special category health data.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
While DSIT acts as the ICO's sponsor department within government, the ICO is an independent regulator accountable to Parliament. The ICO has a statutory duty to investigate complaints from data subjects to the extent appropriate and reports annually to Parliament on its approach to complaints and investigations.
The ICO does not publish complaint handling times by category of personal data. However, it triages all complaints based on the level of harm that alleged non-compliant practices may pose to data subjects.
To address its backlog, the ICO has introduced a new data protection complaints framework setting out how it assesses and prioritises each case. In addition, the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 introduced a new requirement for all data controllers to establish procedures for responding to complaints, aiming to resolve issues at the earliest stage and reduce premature escalation to the ICO.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the clinical independence and impartiality of occupational health assessments commissioned from external providers by employers, including public sector bodies, and what safeguards are in place to prevent management objectives from influencing the clinical content of those assessments.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not regulate occupational health providers or oversee individual clinical assessments commissioned by employers. Occupational health providers are required to comply with relevant legal and professional requirements, including data protection law and common law duties of confidentiality. Individuals generally retain the right to withdraw consent to the processing or sharing of their personal information, although this may be subject to other legal obligations.
Occupational health services are typically commissioned directly by employers, including public sector organisations, who are responsible for the governance and quality of those services. Healthcare professionals undertaking occupational health assessments are expected to exercise independent clinical judgement and are bound by the professional standards of their regulatory bodies. Employers may draw on guidance from bodies such as the Health and Safety Executive and professional occupational health organisations when commissioning services.
The Department keeps the broader work and health system under review and works with stakeholders to promote good practice across occupational health provision.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that occupational health providers acting for employers respect an individual's right to withdraw consent during an assessment, and do not disclose information about that individual to their employer once consent has been withdrawn.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not regulate occupational health providers or oversee individual clinical assessments commissioned by employers. Occupational health providers are required to comply with relevant legal and professional requirements, including data protection law and common law duties of confidentiality. Individuals generally retain the right to withdraw consent to the processing or sharing of their personal information, although this may be subject to other legal obligations.
Occupational health services are typically commissioned directly by employers, including public sector organisations, who are responsible for the governance and quality of those services. Healthcare professionals undertaking occupational health assessments are expected to exercise independent clinical judgement and are bound by the professional standards of their regulatory bodies. Employers may draw on guidance from bodies such as the Health and Safety Executive and professional occupational health organisations when commissioning services.
The Department keeps the broader work and health system under review and works with stakeholders to promote good practice across occupational health provision.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the delivery of education on (a) relationships, (b) consent and (c) behaviour across different key stages.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
We recognise that more needs to be done to support effective delivery of relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) in schools. That is why the department has published updated RSHE statutory guidance for teaching from September 2026 with strengthened guidance on building healthy relationships, and emphasis on addressing misogynistic attitudes and online harms.
Alongside this, the department is investing £16 million to pilot targeted interventions in schools from the next academic year, supporting the rollout of the updated RSHE curriculum and strengthening teaching on healthy relationships and harmful behaviours to ensure teachers and schools feel fully supported.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has considered (a) lessons from road safety education, and (b) circumstances where (i) sustained education and (ii) meaningful consequences for offenders reduced harm, in developing its approach to education on consent and relationships.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
We have published updated guidance for relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) for teaching from September 2026, which includes a focus on developing skills for healthy relationships from the beginning of primary school and sets out that secondary schools should cover the role of consent, including how to recognise, respect and communicate consent and boundaries in both platonic and romantic relationships. Pupils should be made aware of the relevant legal provisions when relevant topics are being taught, including those relating to consent.
The focus for primary relationships education should be on teaching the skills and knowledge that form the building blocks of all positive relationships, supporting children from the start of their education to grow into kind, caring adults who have respect for others. Relationships and sex education in secondary schools should provide a clear progression from primary relationships education, providing young people with the information they need to develop healthy, safe and nurturing relationships of all kinds.
The department is investing £16 million to pilot targeted interventions in schools from the next academic year, supporting the rollout of the updated RSHE curriculum and strengthening teaching on healthy relationships and harmful behaviours to ensure teachers and schools feel fully supported.
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.