Asked by: Baroness Uddin (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the statement by the Secretary of State for the Home Office on 26 January (HC Deb col 610), what assessment they have made of any bias and inconsistency of application in the use of facial recognition assessments and algorithms for Black and Asian men and women.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The algorithm used for retrospective facial recognition searches on the Police National Database (PND) has been independently tested by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), which found that in a limited set of circumstances it was more likely to incorrectly include some demographic groups in its search results. At the settings used by police, the NPL also found that if a correct match was in the database, the algorithm found it in 99% of searches.
We take these findings very seriously. A new algorithm has been procured and independently tested, which can be used at settings with no statistically significant bias. It is due to be operationally tested in the coming months and will be subject to evaluation.
Manual safeguards embedded in police training, operational practice and guidance have always required trained users and investigating officers to visually assess all potential matches. Training and guidance have been re-issued and promoted to remind them of these long-standing manual safeguards. The National Police Chiefs’ Council has also updated and published data protection and equality impact assessments.
Given the importance of this issue, the Home Secretary has asked HMICFRS, supported by the Forensic Science Regulator, to inspect police and relevant law enforcement agencies’ use of retrospective facial recognition, with work expected to begin before the end of March.
It is important to note that no decisions are made by the algorithm or solely on the basis of a possible match– matches are intelligence, which must be corroborated with other information, as with any other police investigation.
For live facial recognition, NPL testing found, a 1 in 6,000 false alert rate on a watchlist containing 10,000 images. In practice, the police have reported that the false alert rate has been far better than this. The NPL also found no statistically significant performance differences by gender, age, or ethnicity at the settings used by the police.
On 4 December last year, we launched a public consultation on when and how biometrics, facial recognition and similar technologies should be used, and what safeguards and oversight are needed. Following analysis of the responses, we will publish a formal government response in due course.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Welsh Government on the desired governance end state for policing in Wales following the policing white paper; when those discussions took place; and what the outcomes were.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
We are working closely with the Welsh Government, as well as other Welsh Stakeholders including Welsh local government, police forces and other partners, to ensure new governance arrangements provide strong and effective police governance in Wales.
Officials have established a specific Welsh transition working group as part of the Police Governance Reform project, which last met on 22 January. Welsh Government officials are members of this Board and Home Office and Welsh Government officials speak regularly to develop proposals. The Minister for Policing and Crime regularly speaks to the Welsh Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Jane Hutt MS, and she attended the Policing Partnership Board for Wales on 18 December. The Minister plans to attend the next Board on 5 March.
We will continue to work collaboratively with Welsh stakeholders on the design and implementation of governance arrangements in Wales.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average cost per unaccompanied asylum-seeking child to local authorities was in the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Support for looked after children, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, is the statutory responsibility of local authorities. The primary source of funding for local authority children's social care is through the Local Government Funding Settlement (and Devolved equivalents).
In addition to the funding for children's social care that local authorities receive through the Local Government Finance Settlement, and equivalent finance arrangements which apply to the Devolved Governments, the Home Office provides additional funding contributions to support local authorities in meeting the costs incurred looking after unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the sustainability of current funding arrangements for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Support for looked after children, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, is the statutory responsibility of local authorities. The primary source of funding for local authority children's social care is through the Local Government Funding Settlement (and Devolved equivalents).
In addition to the funding for children's social care that local authorities receive through the Local Government Finance Settlement, and equivalent finance arrangements which apply to the Devolved Governments, the Home Office provides additional funding contributions to support local authorities in meeting the costs incurred looking after unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to close asylum hotels, particularly the Four Points Hotel in Horley.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government inherited a broken asylum system, with tens of thousands stuck in a backlog and claims not being processed, wasting millions in taxpayer money. We will empty asylum hotels as soon as possible, and by the end of this Parliament. That is a complex process that must be delivered through a controlled, managed and orderly plan of work.
For the safety, security, and wellbeing of those we accommodate, we do not publicly comment on individual hotels which may or may not be utilised by the Home Office, nor do we provide details of those we accommodate at any site.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2025 to Question 101646 on Offences against Children, whether guidance will explicitly address the concerns outlined in the Casey Review that Child Sexual Exploitation cases were being dropped or downgraded from rape to lesser charges where a 13 to 15 year-old has been 'in love' or 'had consented to' sex with the perpetrator.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Guidance accompanying the new mandatory reporting duty will make clear that child sexual abuse must never be tolerated. The government will work closely with those impacted by the introduction of the duty to ensure it is clearly understood ahead of commencement.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2025 to Question 101646 on Offences against Children, whether guidance to volunteer groups will explicitly state that child sexual abuse must not be tolerated under any circumstances, even where apparent consent is claimed.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Guidance accompanying the new mandatory reporting duty will make clear that child sexual abuse must never be tolerated. The government will work closely with those impacted by the introduction of the duty to ensure it is clearly understood ahead of commencement.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2025 to Question 101647 on Anti-social Behaviour: Children, whether she will provide a forum for volunteer groups to ask questions that may arise as a result of the new guidance.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Guidance accompanying the new mandatory reporting duty will make clear that child sexual abuse must never be tolerated. The government will work closely with those impacted by the introduction of the duty to ensure it is clearly understood ahead of commencement.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the proposed change to qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain will apply to current and former non-citizen armed forces personnel and their families.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Armed Forces Covenant is a national commitment that those who serve or have served in HM Armed Forces should not face disadvantage due to their service. The government recognises the sacrifices made by service personnel and their families — including the loss of civilian freedoms — in defence of the UK.
The government is committed to upholding the Covenant by ensuring fair treatment for all who serve or have served, including non-UK personnel. Any changes to the settlement pathway, including the qualifying period for settlement, will be carefully considered to ensure they remain fully consistent with the principles of the Covenant — meaning service personnel and their dependants must be treated fairly and must not face additional barriers as a result of their service.
The Earned Settlement consultation is open until 12 February and seeks views on the treatment of armed forces members under the earned settlement system. However, we are not proposing that HM Armed Forces, and their family members should have a different pathway to settlement than they do today.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2026 to Question 104868, what the service standard wait times at passport control are, and what assessment the Department has made of the economic impact of passenger delays at the border.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Border Force publish data on the percentage of sampled measurements cleared within service standards, with the target of 95%.
The service standard is 25 minutes for passengers using eGates or queues where the majority of passengers are GBR/ EEA/ B5JSSK nationalities / 45 minutes for passengers using queues dedicated to other nationalities.
The latest published data was Quarter 3 2025 (Jul-Sept) which showed 97.9% of sampled measurements were cleared within service standards.
The Department for Business and Trade will be best placed to provide information on the economic impact of passenger delays at the border.