Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to UIN 97805 answered on 15 December 2025, whether estimates have been made of the number of potential misidentifications made by police as a result of potential bias in the PND facial search algorithm.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office is aware of the risk of bias in facial recognition algorithms and supports policing in managing that risk. Initial findings from independent testing carried out by the National Physical Laboratory were shared with the Home Office in March 2024. The draft findings showed a potential bias in the algorithm used by specially trained operators in police forces to search the Police National Database (PND). The findings were explored with the National Physical Laboratory, and risks and mitigations were discussed with policing experts. Home Office Ministers were first made aware of the bias in October 2024. The final report was provided in April 2025 and updated for publication in October 2025.
The Government has tasked His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, with support from the Forensic Science Regulator, to look at whether people have been affected by the bias as part of the inspection of police and relevant law enforcement agencies’ use of retrospective facial recognition. HMICFRS have begun scoping and planning for the inspection, which will begin before the end of March 2026. The inspection terms of reference will be published by HMICFRS.
A facial recognition match is only ever one piece of intelligence, as part of a wider police investigation. Manual safeguards, embedded in police training, operational practice, and guidance, require all potential matches returned from the PND to be visually assessed by a trained user and investigating officer. These safeguards have always been in place to minimise the risk that the wrong person in the PND is subject to investigation.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to UIN 97805 answered on 15 December 2025, when the Home Office first learned of potential bias in the current PND facial search algorithm.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office is aware of the risk of bias in facial recognition algorithms and supports policing in managing that risk. Initial findings from independent testing carried out by the National Physical Laboratory were shared with the Home Office in March 2024. The draft findings showed a potential bias in the algorithm used by specially trained operators in police forces to search the Police National Database (PND). The findings were explored with the National Physical Laboratory, and risks and mitigations were discussed with policing experts. Home Office Ministers were first made aware of the bias in October 2024. The final report was provided in April 2025 and updated for publication in October 2025.
The Government has tasked His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, with support from the Forensic Science Regulator, to look at whether people have been affected by the bias as part of the inspection of police and relevant law enforcement agencies’ use of retrospective facial recognition. HMICFRS have begun scoping and planning for the inspection, which will begin before the end of March 2026. The inspection terms of reference will be published by HMICFRS.
A facial recognition match is only ever one piece of intelligence, as part of a wider police investigation. Manual safeguards, embedded in police training, operational practice, and guidance, require all potential matches returned from the PND to be visually assessed by a trained user and investigating officer. These safeguards have always been in place to minimise the risk that the wrong person in the PND is subject to investigation.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2025 to Question 97805 on Police: Biometrics, what the (a) planned timescales and (b) terms of reference are for the two HMICFRS reviews referred to.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office is aware of the risk of bias in facial recognition algorithms and supports policing in managing that risk. Initial findings from independent testing carried out by the National Physical Laboratory were shared with the Home Office in March 2024. The draft findings showed a potential bias in the algorithm used by specially trained operators in police forces to search the Police National Database (PND). The findings were explored with the National Physical Laboratory, and risks and mitigations were discussed with policing experts. Home Office Ministers were first made aware of the bias in October 2024. The final report was provided in April 2025 and updated for publication in October 2025.
The Government has tasked His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, with support from the Forensic Science Regulator, to look at whether people have been affected by the bias as part of the inspection of police and relevant law enforcement agencies’ use of retrospective facial recognition. HMICFRS have begun scoping and planning for the inspection, which will begin before the end of March 2026. The inspection terms of reference will be published by HMICFRS.
A facial recognition match is only ever one piece of intelligence, as part of a wider police investigation. Manual safeguards, embedded in police training, operational practice, and guidance, require all potential matches returned from the PND to be visually assessed by a trained user and investigating officer. These safeguards have always been in place to minimise the risk that the wrong person in the PND is subject to investigation.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish an Equalities Impact Assessment for her proposed earned settlement model.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Details of the earned settlement model will be finalised following the conclusion of the ongoing public consultation.
An equality impact assessment will then be published in due course.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to stop companies from using biobeads.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Polluting our waterways is unacceptable. It is right that Southern Water has taken responsibility for the incident at Camber Sands, East Sussex, caused by a failure of a screening filter at their Eastbourne Wastewater Treatment Works.
Defra Ministers are in close contact with the Environment Agency, which is now conducting an active investigation into the incident. A decision on the enforcement action will be made in the coming weeks.
The sector must step up to deliver improvements for the benefit of customers and the environment, and we are taking decisive action to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas.
Water companies should take all necessary precautions to ensure all equipment is properly constructed and maintained to prevent the unauthorised or accidental escape of bio-beads from wastewater treatment works into the environment.
The Government is looking into developing new standards for infrastructure resilience which, coupled with robust water company planning through Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans and the new statutory Pollution Incident Reduction Plans, will drive investment to improve wastewater assets and reduce pollution into our environment.
I have written to Water Companies asking them to explain their use of bio-beads in the water industry and alternatives.