Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that any proposals to amend the Access to Work scheme are subject to consultation with disabled people and piloted before implementation.

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

This Government values the input of disabled people and people with health conditions, their representative organisations and people that support them. That is why we brought forward the Green Paper and opened a public consultation. We are now carefully reviewing responses to the Green Paper.

We have recently concluded the Access to Work Collaboration Committees, in which we engaged with a range of stakeholders, including disabled people’s organisation representatives and lived experience users, to provide discussion, experience, and challenge to the design of the future Access to Work Scheme.

We are continuing to work closely with stakeholders, and in particular disabled people and their representatives.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who have left or are at risk of leaving employment due to reductions in Access to Work awards upon renewal.

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

The Department for Work and Pensions does not collect data on the number of people who may have left or are at risk of leaving employment due to reductions in Access to Work awards upon renewal. Access to Work is only available to individuals who are starting or in employment, so this type of data is not recorded.

Customers who disagree with a renewal outcome may request a reconsideration of their award.

The Access to Work scheme supports disabled people start and stay in employment by providing tailored support based on individual needs.

In the Pathways to Work Green Paper, we consulted on the future of the Access to Work scheme. We are considering responses to the consultation and will set out our plans in due course.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of making UK AISI / Thorn's guidance, Recommended Practice for AI-G CSEA Prevention, published in December 2025, mandatory for all AI developers to prevent the creation of AI-generated child sexual abuse material.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government recognises the importance of tackling AI-generated CSAM. Creating, possessing, or distributing CSAM, including AI Generated CSAM, is illegal. The Online Safety Act requires services to proactively identify and remove this content. We are taking further action in the Crime and Policing Bill to criminalise CSAM image generators, and to ensure AI developers can directly test for and address vulnerabilities in their models which enable the production of CSAM.

The AISI / Thorn joint publication guidance (Recommended Practice for AI-G CSEA Prevention) sets out practical steps that AI developers, model hosting services and others in the AI ecosystem can take to reduce the risk that their systems are misused to generate CSAM. This guidance is informed by input from industry and child protection organisations, and many of the world’s leading AI developers (including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta) have signed up to the principles of earlier forms of this guidance.

The Government is clear: no option is off the table when it comes to protecting the online safety of users in the UK, and we will not hesitate to act where evidence suggests that further action is necessary.

Found: Current membership Alberto Costa (Conservative; South Leicestershire) (Chair) Paula Barker (Labour; Liverpool

Found: Current membership Alberto Costa (Conservative; South Leicestershire) (Chair) Paula Barker (Labour; Liverpool

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