Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the safeguards in place to mitigate racial and other bias in the use of retrospective facial recognition technology.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Secretary has commissioned His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary (HMICFRS) to conduct an inspection of police and relevant law enforcement agencies’ use of retrospective facial recognition. The detail of the inspection and publication of the report are a matter for HMICFRS, but they will look at whether there have been or are likely to have been any wrongful arrests as a result of the use of retrospective facial recognition.
Additionally, the Home Office is aware of the risk of bias in facial recognition algorithms and supports policing in managing that risk. Manual safeguards, embedded in police training, operational practice, and guidance, require all potential matches returned from the Police National Database (PND) to be visually assessed by a trained user and investigating officer. If the trained PND user or investigator decides a facial search image provides a potential match, this must be treated as intelligence rather than evidence and additional lines of enquiry must be undertaken before any action is taken. These safeguards have always been in place, even before the independent National Physical Laboratory (NPL) testing.
The Home Office does not issue guidance on setting algorithm thresholds. The National Police Chiefs’ Council and police forces consider the impact and equitability of facial recognition technology in line with their Public Sector Equality Duty. The threshold is set for all forces by a Chief Constable on behalf of the NPCC to balance the equitability of facial searching, and the operational imperative to find true matches where they are present on PND.
The Home Office takes the findings of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) report very seriously and has already acted. The Police Reform White Paper included a commitment to invest £26m into the development and delivery of a national facial recognition system for policing using a new algorithm. The new facial recognition algorithm has been independently tested by the NPL and this showed that it can be used at settings with no statistically significant bias. The new service will be operationally tested by the police in the coming months and will be subject to evaluation to inform future decisions about rolling out the new system with the new algorithm.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance is in place relating to the thresholds at which retrospective facial recognition searches of the Police National Database may be operated.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Secretary has commissioned His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary (HMICFRS) to conduct an inspection of police and relevant law enforcement agencies’ use of retrospective facial recognition. The detail of the inspection and publication of the report are a matter for HMICFRS, but they will look at whether there have been or are likely to have been any wrongful arrests as a result of the use of retrospective facial recognition.
Additionally, the Home Office is aware of the risk of bias in facial recognition algorithms and supports policing in managing that risk. Manual safeguards, embedded in police training, operational practice, and guidance, require all potential matches returned from the Police National Database (PND) to be visually assessed by a trained user and investigating officer. If the trained PND user or investigator decides a facial search image provides a potential match, this must be treated as intelligence rather than evidence and additional lines of enquiry must be undertaken before any action is taken. These safeguards have always been in place, even before the independent National Physical Laboratory (NPL) testing.
The Home Office does not issue guidance on setting algorithm thresholds. The National Police Chiefs’ Council and police forces consider the impact and equitability of facial recognition technology in line with their Public Sector Equality Duty. The threshold is set for all forces by a Chief Constable on behalf of the NPCC to balance the equitability of facial searching, and the operational imperative to find true matches where they are present on PND.
The Home Office takes the findings of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) report very seriously and has already acted. The Police Reform White Paper included a commitment to invest £26m into the development and delivery of a national facial recognition system for policing using a new algorithm. The new facial recognition algorithm has been independently tested by the NPL and this showed that it can be used at settings with no statistically significant bias. The new service will be operationally tested by the police in the coming months and will be subject to evaluation to inform future decisions about rolling out the new system with the new algorithm.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to determine the number of people who may have been wrongly arrested or questioned by police as a result of incorrect facial recognition matches produced by the Cognitec FaceVACS-DBScan ID v5.5 software used on the Police National Database.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Secretary has commissioned His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary (HMICFRS) to conduct an inspection of police and relevant law enforcement agencies’ use of retrospective facial recognition. The detail of the inspection and publication of the report are a matter for HMICFRS, but they will look at whether there have been or are likely to have been any wrongful arrests as a result of the use of retrospective facial recognition.
Additionally, the Home Office is aware of the risk of bias in facial recognition algorithms and supports policing in managing that risk. Manual safeguards, embedded in police training, operational practice, and guidance, require all potential matches returned from the Police National Database (PND) to be visually assessed by a trained user and investigating officer. If the trained PND user or investigator decides a facial search image provides a potential match, this must be treated as intelligence rather than evidence and additional lines of enquiry must be undertaken before any action is taken. These safeguards have always been in place, even before the independent National Physical Laboratory (NPL) testing.
The Home Office does not issue guidance on setting algorithm thresholds. The National Police Chiefs’ Council and police forces consider the impact and equitability of facial recognition technology in line with their Public Sector Equality Duty. The threshold is set for all forces by a Chief Constable on behalf of the NPCC to balance the equitability of facial searching, and the operational imperative to find true matches where they are present on PND.
The Home Office takes the findings of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) report very seriously and has already acted. The Police Reform White Paper included a commitment to invest £26m into the development and delivery of a national facial recognition system for policing using a new algorithm. The new facial recognition algorithm has been independently tested by the NPL and this showed that it can be used at settings with no statistically significant bias. The new service will be operationally tested by the police in the coming months and will be subject to evaluation to inform future decisions about rolling out the new system with the new algorithm.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of people who may have been wrongly arrested or questioned by police as a result of incorrect facial recognition matches produced by the Cognitec FaceVACS-DBScan ID v5.5 software used on the Police National Database.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Secretary has commissioned His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary (HMICFRS) to conduct an inspection of police and relevant law enforcement agencies’ use of retrospective facial recognition. The detail of the inspection and publication of the report are a matter for HMICFRS, but they will look at whether there have been or are likely to have been any wrongful arrests as a result of the use of retrospective facial recognition.
Additionally, the Home Office is aware of the risk of bias in facial recognition algorithms and supports policing in managing that risk. Manual safeguards, embedded in police training, operational practice, and guidance, require all potential matches returned from the Police National Database (PND) to be visually assessed by a trained user and investigating officer. If the trained PND user or investigator decides a facial search image provides a potential match, this must be treated as intelligence rather than evidence and additional lines of enquiry must be undertaken before any action is taken. These safeguards have always been in place, even before the independent National Physical Laboratory (NPL) testing.
The Home Office does not issue guidance on setting algorithm thresholds. The National Police Chiefs’ Council and police forces consider the impact and equitability of facial recognition technology in line with their Public Sector Equality Duty. The threshold is set for all forces by a Chief Constable on behalf of the NPCC to balance the equitability of facial searching, and the operational imperative to find true matches where they are present on PND.
The Home Office takes the findings of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) report very seriously and has already acted. The Police Reform White Paper included a commitment to invest £26m into the development and delivery of a national facial recognition system for policing using a new algorithm. The new facial recognition algorithm has been independently tested by the NPL and this showed that it can be used at settings with no statistically significant bias. The new service will be operationally tested by the police in the coming months and will be subject to evaluation to inform future decisions about rolling out the new system with the new algorithm.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Idemia facial recognition algorithm for Home Office strategic facial matching will be rolled out across police forces.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Secretary has commissioned His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary (HMICFRS) to conduct an inspection of police and relevant law enforcement agencies’ use of retrospective facial recognition. The detail of the inspection and publication of the report are a matter for HMICFRS, but they will look at whether there have been or are likely to have been any wrongful arrests as a result of the use of retrospective facial recognition.
Additionally, the Home Office is aware of the risk of bias in facial recognition algorithms and supports policing in managing that risk. Manual safeguards, embedded in police training, operational practice, and guidance, require all potential matches returned from the Police National Database (PND) to be visually assessed by a trained user and investigating officer. If the trained PND user or investigator decides a facial search image provides a potential match, this must be treated as intelligence rather than evidence and additional lines of enquiry must be undertaken before any action is taken. These safeguards have always been in place, even before the independent National Physical Laboratory (NPL) testing.
The Home Office does not issue guidance on setting algorithm thresholds. The National Police Chiefs’ Council and police forces consider the impact and equitability of facial recognition technology in line with their Public Sector Equality Duty. The threshold is set for all forces by a Chief Constable on behalf of the NPCC to balance the equitability of facial searching, and the operational imperative to find true matches where they are present on PND.
The Home Office takes the findings of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) report very seriously and has already acted. The Police Reform White Paper included a commitment to invest £26m into the development and delivery of a national facial recognition system for policing using a new algorithm. The new facial recognition algorithm has been independently tested by the NPL and this showed that it can be used at settings with no statistically significant bias. The new service will be operationally tested by the police in the coming months and will be subject to evaluation to inform future decisions about rolling out the new system with the new algorithm.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will provide training to police forces in connection with the commencement of the Protection from Sex-based Harassment in Public Act on 1 April 2026.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Public sexual harassment is a crime that often leaves victims, who are disproportionately likely to be women, feeling very unsafe. That is why tackling it is an important part of our mission on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).
Our “Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls”, published on 18th December 2025, committed to commence the Protection from Sex-Based Harassment in Public Act 2023 on 1 April 2026. This includes publication of the statutory guidance for police on the same day, which is a requirement of Section 2 of the Act. We are working directly with policing to ensure everything is in place to support them in enforcing the aggravated offence from 1 April 2026.
The Government recognises the importance of challenging and changing the behaviour of perpetrators of public sexual harassment. That is why we are exploring opportunities to further raise public awareness of the Act and are exploring introducing a public sexual harassment awareness course to be offered to perpetrators to challenge and address their behaviours and reduce offending.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help reduce investigation times in cases related to sexual offences.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Rape and sexual offences are among the most harmful crimes in society and can have devastating impacts on victims, their loved ones, and communities. The Home Office has invested £13.1 million to launch the new National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and Public Protection (NCVPP) to improve the national response to violence against women and girls and child sexual abuse.
Through the NCVPP, we are continuing to support Operation Soteria and ensuring that police forces build the strongest possible, suspect‑focused cases to bring perpetrators of these horrific crimes to justice. This includes embedding victim-orientated, trauma-informed training at frontline, specialist and leadership levels so that officers are equipped to deliver high-quality investigations, to support victims better, and to build capability across forces in the long term.
We are embedding specialist rape and sexual offence teams in every police force in England and Wales, to ensure the right expertise is in place to investigate these crimes effectively, and we are working closely with the NCVPP to ensure a consistent national approach.
We will continue to work with law enforcement agencies to ensure that the right powers are available for the authorities to tackle sexual crimes, bring perpetrators to justice and manage sex offenders.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2026 to Question 110396 on Strategic Migration Partnership: Finance, for what reason her Department does not currently publish funding levels to Strategic Migration Partnerships.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not publish the amounts due to the sensitive nature of the grant scheme.
Previous years funding can be found here Government Grants Data and Statistics Government grants data and statistics - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Olly Glover (Liberal Democrat - Didcot and Wantage)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much it is costing the police to house dogs that have been confiscated under the Dangerous Dogs Act.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold data on the total cost to policing for housing dogs confiscated under the Dangerous Dogs Act.
I would refer the hon member to the response previously provided by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UIN: 74382.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will issue guidance to the police on uniformed police officers being photographed holding the flags of foreign countries.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has no plans to issue guidance on this matter.