Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what steps their Department is taking to support local authorities in establishing minimum requirements for the safety, reliability and accountability of emerging technologies before their deployment in essential public services.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
The Government is committed to ensuring that emerging technologies, including AI, are developed and deployed safely and responsibly. Most AI systems are already regulated at the point of use through existing expert regulators and legal safeguards. Government will legislate where needed, based on evidence of serious gaps in the existing framework.
Public sector organisations also have access to guidance and tools to support the responsible use of AI and other data-driven technologies, including the AI and Data Ethics Framework, the Model for Responsible Innovation and the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard.
The AI Security Institute provides independent scientific and technical capability to test and assess advanced AI systems and identify vulnerabilities, helping Government understand emerging risks and strengthen safeguards.
The Government keeps its approach under review as technologies develop and will consider whether further guidance or protections are required to support the safe, reliable and accountable deployment of emerging technologies in public services.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, whether they plan to introduce guidance for local authorities on developing and testing exit arrangements before deploying emerging technologies in essential public services.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
The Government is committed to ensuring that emerging technologies, including AI, are developed and deployed safely and responsibly. Most AI systems are already regulated at the point of use through existing expert regulators and legal safeguards. Government will legislate where needed, based on evidence of serious gaps in the existing framework.
Public sector organisations also have access to guidance and tools to support the responsible use of AI and other data-driven technologies, including the AI and Data Ethics Framework, the Model for Responsible Innovation and the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard.
The AI Security Institute provides independent scientific and technical capability to test and assess advanced AI systems and identify vulnerabilities, helping Government understand emerging risks and strengthen safeguards.
The Government keeps its approach under review as technologies develop and will consider whether further guidance or protections are required to support the safe, reliable and accountable deployment of emerging technologies in public services.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether any Ministers are attending INTERPOL’s 94th General Assembly in Hong Kong.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)
No. At this stage, Home Office Ministers are not planning to attend INTERPOL’s 94th General Assembly in Hong Kong.
The United Kingdom delegation will be led by the National Crime Agency, as the UK’s INTERPOL National Central Bureau, and will include representatives from law enforcement and the Home Office at official level.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that religious education in schools in England includes teaching about non-religious worldviews, including humanism.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department recognises that non-religious worldviews, including humanism, can play an important role in supporting pupils’ understanding of beliefs and values. Religious education (RE) is not part of the national curriculum but is a mandatory subject for all pupils aged 5 to 18 in state-funded schools in England. Schools should deliver RE in an objective, critical and pluralistic way and already have the flexibility through their locally agreed syllabuses to include the study of non-religious world views such as humanism.
The Curriculum and Assessment Review recommended that government should explore including RE in the national curriculum, contingent on sector consensus. The sector group has reached a consensus and the department will consult on a draft RE curriculum in line with the national curriculum consultation.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to review the 18-month limit for Bereavement Support Payment.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 9 September 2026 to Question UIN 26385.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that public bodies deploying artificial intelligence and autonomous technologies in public services retain clearly defined human responsibility for explaining decisions made using those technologies and providing mechanisms for those decisions to be challenged and, where appropriate, reversed.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises that the safe, reliable and accountable use of artificial intelligence is important to maintaining public trust in public services.
Departments deploying AI systems are expected to consider risks and impacts throughout the system lifecycle, including during design, development, deployment and operation. This includes compliance with safety, transparency, accountability, data protection rules and regulations.
The Government has published guidance to support this, including the Data and AI Ethics Framework, and the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard, which support transparency, accountability and governance in the use of AI across the public sector.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of levels of dependency on foreign-owned AI systems on resilience in the public sector.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
The Government recognises that AI is increasingly embedded in public services, and that the UK currently relies on a small number of foreign-headquartered providers for frontier models, compute and cloud. As the Secretary of State set out at RUSI, the Government's approach is to reduce over-dependencies and strengthen resilience in our most critical national priorities. This is reinforced by wider Government investment, including the £500 million Sovereign AI Fund, to build domestic capability and reduce strategic dependencies over time.
Departments are responsible for their own procurement decisions, in line with established rules and guidance, and manage supplier risks supported by guidance from Government Digital Service, Government Commercial Agency and the National Cyber Security Centre.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of processing times for US tourist and/or business visas of British citizens born in Iran since January 2025.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office does not hold the requested information; processing times for US visas are a matter for the US authorities. More information can be found on the State Department website.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department holds information on average waiting times for US tourist and business visa applications submitted by dual-British citizens.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office does not hold the requested information; processing times for US visas are a matter for the US authorities. More information can be found on the State Department website.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 improve miscarriage care.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
Steps taken to improve miscarriage care include working closely with NHS England to improve the availability of Early Pregnancy Assessment Units, improved mental health support through Maternal Mental Health Services, and standardised bereavement care through the National Bereavement Care Pathway. As part of the renewed Women’s Health Strategy, we have committed to closely reviewing the findings presented in the Tommy’s graded model of care study, including the suggestions of improved access to care.