Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has conducted a cost-benefit analysis on the fiscal implications of utilising live facial recognition systems; and how this compares to traditional policing methods.

The Home Office does not hold data on the number of convictions made following the police’s use of live facial recognition (LFR) technology.  Where police forces are using live facial recognition technology, the number of arrests made following each deployment are published on their respective websites.

Facial recognition technology is a powerful and effective tool for policing, helping them locate wanted offenders, including those missing for years, and monitor individuals subject to court-imposed conditions, such as registered sex offenders.

The use of LFR is increasing and delivering excellent results. Between January 2024 and September 2025, the Met Police reported over 1,300 arrests for offences including, rape, domestic abuse, knife crime, GBH and robbery, following live facial recognition deployments. They also arrested more than 100 registered sex offenders found in breach of their conditions.

Police forces have assessed LFR to be cost-effective due to the ability to identify suspects at a speed that wouldn’t be possible by the vast majority of officers working without its assistance. The Met have found LFR to be three times more effective than existing tactics in identifying individuals they needed to speak to and the government believes that this technology is making a real difference in keeping communities safe.

The Home Office is also funding a national evaluation to understand the impact of facial recognition on police and crime outcomes, and its relationship to public trust and confidence.