Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance is in place relating to the quality of images required for facial recognition searches using the police national database, in the context of composite photofit images.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Guidance for forces using the Police National Database is provided through the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing and reflects established standards relating to the capture, handling, and use of facial images. This includes consideration of image quality and the need to manage the risk of misidentification.

Any potential matches are reviewed by trained officers and must be corroborated before any operational or investigatory action is taken.

Police forces must have regard to the Home Secretary’s Surveillance Camera Code of Practice, which sets out expectations for the use of surveillance camera systems and includes requirements around necessity, proportionality, and appropriate safeguards.

Individual police forces remain responsible for local policies and procedures in line with national guidance and the law.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what consideration his Department makes of trends in the costs of essential goods and services when setting the basic rate of Universal Credit during the uprating process.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) estimates how the prices of goods and services bought by households rise or fall and is used as an indication of inflation in Universal Credit uprating. Last year, The Secretary of State increased most working age benefits across Great Britain for 2026/27 by 3.8% in line with CPI in the year to September 2025.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department intends to publish the draft statutory guidance for the Mental Health Act 2025 for consultation; and if he will commit to consulting by and for specialist VAWG organisations in the development of that guidance.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed

Following Royal Assent of the Mental Health Act 2025, our priority for 2026 is to update the revised Code of Practice. We will engage extensively, including with people with lived experience and their families and carers, staff, and professional groups, commissioners, providers, voluntary, community, and social enterprise organisations, and others to do this. There will also be a formal public consultation in early 2027, where we will encourage responses from anyone who wishes to input, including specialist violence against women and girls organisations.

We will be updating the Code of Practice, not just to reflect the new primary legislation, but to provide further guidance and clarity on non-legislative aspects relevant to the reforms, as well as more broadly to make general improvements and updates.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the Mental Health Act 2025 and accompanying statutory guidance adequately address disparities in access, quality of care, and outcomes in commissioned mental health services for Black and minoritised women who are survivors of VAWG.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed

We recognise that there are significant and concerning racial disparities in the rates of detention under the previous Mental Health Act and driving reductions in inequalities is a guiding principle for the Mental Health Act 2025. The Government will be working very carefully with the wider mental health system to support the effective implementation of the provisions in the 2025 act, to reduce racial disparities in decision making under the act. The updating of the Code of Practice will be a key way in which we achieve this, and we will be formally consulting on the updated code.

We also recognise that some of the disparities arise from social, economic, and environmental factors outside the scope of the act, and these are being addressed separately. For example, earlier access to mental health support prior to mental health crisis is being driven through improved community-based mental health services and NHS England’s Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework is looking at transforming culture in wider mental health services, not just under the Mental Health Act.

Domestic abuse, sexual violence, and other forms of trauma are known risk factors for mental ill health, and we are committed to improving our national response to trauma through cross-Government action. The Department is taking specific steps to improve trauma-informed support for victims and survivors of abuse. This includes implementing the “Steps to Safety” referral service for domestic abuse and sexual violence across all integrated care boards, and investing £5 million each year for the next three years to support victims and survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of menopause symptoms on women’s labour market participation.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department has conducted a literature review to collate evidence on women’s employment and menopause, which was published in July 2025: Menopause in the Workplace Literature Review - GOV.UK

The economic costs of the menopause on the labour market has been estimated by the following study: Womens health economics investing in the 51 per cent

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Imkaan’s research paper, Out of Sight Out Of Mind, published in March 2026, what mechanisms are in place to ensure that Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) are tacking health inequalities for Black and minoritised survivors of VAWG through commissioning by and for services.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to ensure that Menopause Action Plans reflect the needs of women managing menopause symptoms at work.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

It has not proved possible to respond to the Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what plans she has to evaluate the effect of mandatory Menopause Action Plans following their introduction.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

It has not proved possible to respond to the Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to assess the effectiveness of voluntary Menopause Action Plans.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

It has not proved possible to respond to the Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether her Department has considered encouraging employers to introduce menopause-related leave as part of Menopause Action Plans.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

It has not proved possible to respond to the Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation.

48th anniversary of the murder of Altab Ali

Hillsborough Law

Protection and restoration of ancient woodland

International Workers’ Memorial Day 2026

13th anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh

Industrial action and the cost of living

BBC Charter review

International Mother Languages Day 2026

Billionaire wealth

Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr

Fipronil and Imidacloprid Pesticides

Ketamine

Mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence law

Escalating settler violence in the West Bank

Restructuring at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Changes to State Pension age affecting 1950s-born women

Higher education funding (No. 2)

Israeli death penalty law and military courts

Animal protection disclosure scheme

Universal Credit health for under-22s

Illegal waste operations

Mehran Raoof

World Curlew Day

Planned reductions to BBC staff

Found: Labour; Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket) Joani Reid (Independent; East Kilbride and Strathaven) Bell Ribeiro-Addy