Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that the use of Artificial Intelligence for age-verification in Home Office applications will not increase incorrect decisions that could result in harm to children.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Assessing age is a complex task, and there is no one single or combination of techniques able to determine chronological age with precision. The Home Office wants to improve decision accuracy and safeguard vulnerable people. The Home Office has announced that Akhter Computers, working with Cognitec acting as a subcontractor, has been awarded a contract to provide Facial Age Estimation technology. Further testing and trialling of the technology is planned, with implementation subject to validation and assurance of the results of this testing.
Currently, FAE has not been operationalised. However, subject to the results of further testing and validation, FAE will be implemented throughout 2027. The Home Office’s current intention is to implement FAE as part of initial age decisions at the border. FAE is not intended to replace or automate the role of human age assessors. For initial age decisions, Immigration Officers’ expertise is critical to the decision making, and they will make the final decision. FAE will be an additional source of information to inform their judgement, not replace it.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Schools White Paper, what plans she has to safeguard local authority-run schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The ‘Every child achieving and thriving’ white paper sets out the unique and vital role local authorities play in delivery of high-quality education and opportunities for all children in their communities, including through working collaboratively with local partners to deliver responsibilities such as place planning, inclusion and safeguarding. As more schools join high-quality trusts, local authority-maintained schools will continue to play a central role in driving high and rising standards and in establishing trusts where appropriate.
The White Paper set out a move towards all schools being in a strong, high-quality trusts and sets out a new route for local authorities to establish trusts, utilising their unique capacity to build local partnerships across their communities in the best interests of all children. The department is working closely with local authorities which have expressed an interest in this proposal and will be setting out next steps shortly.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps is he taking to ensure that employment protections are adequate for the future, in the context of the potential for AI to replace some job roles.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
DBT is working with DSIT and the AI Economics Institute to monitor impacts on jobs and skills. This will ensure we can respond quickly, alongside investment in training and lifelong learning, to help people adapt and prepare for future jobs.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of rolling out the meningitis B vaccination to all children born before 2015.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As my Rt. Hon. Friend, the former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, told the House on 17 March in the context of the meningococcal disease outbreak in Kent, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has been asked to re-examine eligibility for meningitis vaccines to assess, for example, an expanded offer to older children and/or young adults. The JCVI will provide updated advice to the Department this summer around whether, and to what extent, a vaccine programme for older children and/or young adults would be clinically effective. This will also include an assessment of the cost-effectiveness of such a vaccination programme. The JCVI is required to consider the cost-effectiveness of a vaccination programme as part of their code of practice, which is available at the following link:
The JCVI gives advice to ministers based on the best evidence, reflecting current good practice and/or expert opinion. This involves a robust, transparent, and systematic appraisal of the available evidence from a wide range of sources. The JCVI aims to work with key stakeholders while maintaining the independence of committee processes and considerations.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with her counterpart in Sri Lanka regarding water pollution in Chunnakam; and what steps her Department has taken to support improvements in water quality in Sri Lanka.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are aware of the continued concerns about water quality relating to the Chunnakam power plant in Jaffna. Our High Commission in Colombo regularly engages with the Sri Lankan authorities on water management and environmental issues and with local communities on environmental concerns.
The UK supports sustainable water management in Sri Lanka through the 'Improving Groundwater Management in the Jaffna Peninsula' Initiative implemented by the International Water Management Institute. The programme works with local communities, researchers and Sri Lankan government authorities and is helping communities better understand and manage water resources. Officials from our High Commission in Colombo most recently visited Jaffna in February 2026 to assess programme progress and engage with local stakeholders to hear their concerns.