Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions she has had with Ofcom on whether Ofcom has established whether Meta carried out a risk assessment before the recent roll out of its new AI image-generation feature; and whether the regulator judged that assessment to be suitable and sufficient, as required under the Online Safety Act.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
It is essential that AI providers keep users safe. The Online Safety Act requires regulated services to assess and mitigate risks to users, including protecting all users from illegal content, and children from content which is harmful or age-inappropriate.
AI services are already in scope of the Online Safety Act where they meet the definition of a regulated user-to-user service or search service. And through the Crime and Policing Act, we have taken powers to bring currently unregulated AI services into scope of the Online Safety Act’s illegal content duties.
The Government engages regularly with Ofcom on implementation of the Online Safety Act. It is for Ofcom to determine whether individual providers have met their legal obligations and whether risk assessments are suitable and sufficient.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, what steps the Commission is taking to ensure that the outcomes from the Savings and Improvements Programme adequately support the continued delivery of Parliament's educational outreach programmes.
Answered by Nick Smith
The Commission has considered the changes to the education outreach model proposed by the Chamber and Participation Team. These changes have also been considered by the Administration Committee and the Lords Services Committee.
The proposed continued support for the educational outreach programme will focus on the key benefit of a supporting the establishment of a UK wide digital education model which ensures there are no geographic barriers to participation for schools. Every school, regardless of their location in the UK, will be able to join a session to participate, putting all schools on an equal footing. This support includes the proposed creation of a digital education room at Westminster, a staff team to lead the education programme and the resources to create a new programme that meets the curriculum.
Research has been conducted by the Participation Team on ambitious digital education programmes already underway across the UK with institutions including the Royal Ballet and Opera, The North East Museums Service, and the Holocaust Education Trust all of whom are reaching tens of thousands of students across the UK through the digital education programmes they already have in place.
Under the current outreach model, in 2025/26 only 9% of Members were involved in a school outreach visit and 32% of constituencies received no outreach visits at all. The proposed new service aims to significantly improve on these figures, with much greater opportunities for Members to join in with digital sessions with their local schools. The total, combined reach of the proposed new service is expected to be the same as or greater than the current service by the third year of its operation.
Proposed changes to the staffing of the Education Outreach team would save a total of £550k per annum. The House of Commons share of this saving would be £385k per annum as the House of Commons contributes 70% of the Education Outreach team budget. An estimated £40k per annum would be required for software licensing for new digital services. An initial investment in the creation of a dedicated digital education room would be subject to more detailed financial modelling and any necessary approvals.
Other outreach and education services provided by the Participation team for audiences across the UK – including the Education Centre, UK Parliament Week, Teacher Training, Learn with the Lords, and the Travel Subsidy – are not affected by this proposal. All of these education services have UK wide regional and national reach that reflect the percentage of schools in each area. This support to the education service remains in place to create a holistic education programme for schools to select from.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, what assessment the Commission has made of the adequacy of planned levels of future funding for the Chamber and Participation Team’s Outreach Team.
Answered by Nick Smith
The Commission has considered the Chamber and Participation Team’s proposed changes to the educational outreach model. These changes have also been considered by the Administration Committee and Lords Services Committee. A formal consultation with affected staff is underway and will close on 29 June 2026. Final decisions will be taken following the conclusion of the consultation.
The proposed changes involve the development of a smaller, Westminster-based team, which would operate a UK-wide digital outreach service. Under the current model, in 2025/26 only 9% of Members were involved in a school outreach visit and 32% of constituencies received no outreach visits at all. The new service aims to significantly improve on these figures, with much greater opportunities for Members to join in with digital sessions with their local schools. The total, combined reach of the new service is expected to be the same as or greater than the current service by the third year of its operation.
Proposed changes to the staffing of the Education Outreach team would save a total of £550k per annum. The House of Commons share of this saving would be £385k per annum as the House of Commons contributes 70% of the Education Outreach team budget. An estimated £40k per annum would be required for software licensing for new digital services. An initial investment in the creation of a dedicated digital education room would be subject to more detailed financial modelling and any necessary approvals.
Other outreach and education services provided by the Participation team for audiences across the UK – including the Education Centre, UK Parliament Week, Teacher Training, Learn with the Lords, and the Travel Subsidy – are not affected by this proposal.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether Best Start in Life Family Hubs will include families with children aged 2 and under at risk of developing speech and language challenges.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
Best Start Family Hubs focus on pregnancy and the early years,including the 1,001 critical days from conception to age 2,while also welcoming all families with older children up to age 19 (or 25 for young people with special educational needs and disabilities). This includes children aged 2 and under at risk of developing speech, language and communication needs. They bring together health, parenting and early years services, backed by £900 million to deliver a strong universal and targeted offer.
Evidence shows that what happens at home is central to a child’s development and long-term life chances. Hubs offer accessible services such as stay and play sessions and play‑based early language activities, giving parents practical advice and guidance, building confidence and relationships, and supporting a rich home learning environment through warmth, play and everyday communication.
Each hub will have a Best Start Inclusion Practitioner (BSIP) to provide early support for children aged 0 to 5 with emerging needs, without need for a formal diagnosis. BSIPs work across hubs and outreach locations, collaborating with speech and language therapists and others to provide joined‑up support.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the report by AI Forensics entitled ‘Harassment as Infrastructure’, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of payment providers facilitating payments for access to non-consensual intimate image.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
The Online Safety Act places clear duties on in-scope services to tackle illegal content, including non-consensual intimate image abuse, backed by Ofcom’s strong enforcement powers. Where services fail to comply, Ofcom can seek Business Disruption Measures to restrict access to those services, including measures which may require third-party payment providers to withdraw services from non-compliant sites.
We are strengthening the regulatory framework through new criminal offences and a 48-hour removal duty, alongside Ofcom’s use of hash-matching to prevent re-sharing.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department has made an estimate of how much money online platforms receive from image-based sexual abuse channels on their services.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
Non-consensual intimate images (NCII) are completely unacceptable and tackling this abuse is a priority for this government.
Under the Online Safety Act, services must assess for the risk of NCII, take steps to prevent this content appearing and removing it swiftly when it does. This government has built on the framework by introducing a new requirement on service to remove NCII within 48 hours of a valid report.
This is complemented by Ofcom’s update to its illegal content codes on the use of hash-matching to deliver victim-centred protection from this horrific abuse.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will bring forward an AI Bill that ensures the safety of current and emerging AI products to help tackle the harms of tech-facilitated gender-based violence.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
Tackling violence against women and girls, including online, is a government priority. The Online Safety Act (OSA) establishes a strong regime requiring in-scope AI services to tackle illegal content and protect children from harmful content.
However, we’ve always been clear we would go further where necessary to tackle emerging AI harms. We have criminalised the creation of non-consensual sexual deepfakes and we decided to make it an OSA Priority Offence. We have banned AI nudification apps. We have also legislated in the Crime and Policing Act to ensure that platforms are required to take down non-consensual intimate images within 48 hours. Ofcom has accelerated and announced its decision that service providers should use ‘hash matching’ technology to combat image abuse online.
New powers will also enable regulation of currently unregulated chatbots, requiring them to protect their users from illegal content, including non-consensual intimate images and child abuse. In response to the AI Action Plan, the Government committed to work with regulators to boost their capabilities.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of AI innovations increasing violence against women and girls.
Answered by Natalie Fleet
We are determined to keep women and girls safe from the ever-evolving threat of criminal misuse of artificial intelligence. Accurately estimating the cost to the public purse of AI-enabled violence against women and girls (VAWG) is difficult given uncertainties with regards to the scale of AI-enabled offending. AI has the potential to considerably increase these costs by making it easier for criminals to produce more realistic material and at greater scale than ever before.
The Home Office will continue to ensure that Law Enforcement have the capabilities they need to tackle perpetrators who exploit the use of artificial intelligence to commit violence against women and girls.
In addition, the Home Office has introduced world leading measures, becoming the first country to criminalise the possession, creation and distribution of AI tools to generate child sexual abuse material, as well as the criminalisation of the development and supply of nudification tools.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to engage with the (a) National Association of Teachers of Religious Education and (b) Religious Education Council on the RE curriculum.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The purpose of teaching on religious education (RE) is to help pupils understand the wide range of religions and beliefs, including non-religious beliefs, that exist in our country and the wider world. A consequence of high-quality teaching can be the development of respect, tolerance and community cohesion, built through a greater understanding of different viewpoints. The department has previously issued guidance on the teaching of RE which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/religious-education-guidance-in-english-schools-non-statutory-guidance-2010.
The government is grateful to Vanessa Ogden for her work leading the sector to come together on developing a draft RE curriculum. The Curriculum and Assessment Review recommended that government should explore including RE in the national curriculum, contingent on sector consensus. We continue to engage with the sector, including the National Association of Teachers of Religious Education and the Religious Education Council.
More widely, our reforms to the curriculum will support pupils’ understanding of mutual tolerance and respect.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department provides guidance to schools to use religious education to promote respect, tolerance, and community cohesion.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The purpose of teaching on religious education (RE) is to help pupils understand the wide range of religions and beliefs, including non-religious beliefs, that exist in our country and the wider world. A consequence of high-quality teaching can be the development of respect, tolerance and community cohesion, built through a greater understanding of different viewpoints. The department has previously issued guidance on the teaching of RE which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/religious-education-guidance-in-english-schools-non-statutory-guidance-2010.
The government is grateful to Vanessa Ogden for her work leading the sector to come together on developing a draft RE curriculum. The Curriculum and Assessment Review recommended that government should explore including RE in the national curriculum, contingent on sector consensus. We continue to engage with the sector, including the National Association of Teachers of Religious Education and the Religious Education Council.
More widely, our reforms to the curriculum will support pupils’ understanding of mutual tolerance and respect.