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Question follow-through · 101781

Police: Biometrics

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

answeredHome Office

About this written question

A written question asks a government minister for information in writing. Parliament publishes the question and any answer.

Answering body
Home Office
Tabled
2 Jan 2026
Target answer date
8 Jan 2026
Answer
8 Jan 2026 · 6 calendar days after tabling

Elapsed calendar days describe the record timeline, not whether Parliament considers an answer on time.

More questions by this MP on Justice and policing

Shared topic keywords suggest a connection; they do not establish a follow-up.

Votes on this topic

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Recorded timeline

  1. 2 Jan 2026

    Question tabled

    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

  2. 8 Jan 2026

    Target answer date

    Date supplied by the official written-questions record.

  3. 8 Jan 2026

    Answer published

    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 ...

Open official record

Official data retrieved 28 Sept 2026.

Later records

Possible follow-up questions

Strong links require the same MP, department and exact heading. Other same-department questions are shown as unreviewed candidates, not as confirmed follow-ups. No debate link is asserted unless a stable source relationship exists.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Lord Mandelson

5 Feb 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether (a) she or (b) any members of her Department met or corresponded with Lord Mandelson on Palantir.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Biometrics: Arrests

10 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of people who may have been wrongly arrested or questioned by police as a result of incorrect facial recognition matches produced by the Cognitec FaceVACS-DBSc

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Biometrics: Arrests

10 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to determine the number of people who may have been wrongly arrested or questioned by police as a result of incorrect facial recognition matches produced by the Cognitec FaceV

Strong linkSame MP, department and exact heading

Police: Biometrics

10 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Idemia facial recognition algorithm for Home Office strategic facial matching will be rolled out across police forces.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Biometrics: Police National Database

10 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance is in place relating to the thresholds at which retrospective facial recognition searches of the Police National Database may be operated.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Biometrics: Ethnic Groups

10 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the safeguards in place to mitigate racial and other bias in the use of retrospective facial recognition technology.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Immigration: Fees and Charges

24 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether an impact assessment into the policy paper on Home Office immigration and nationality fees, due to increase from 8 April 2026, has been conducted.

Strong linkSame MP, department and exact heading

Police: Biometrics

10 Apr 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the cost-effectiveness of police use of live facial recognition technology in comparison to traditional policing methods.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Surveillance

10 Apr 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the proportionality of deploying mass surveillance technology to address low level offences.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Police Custody: Photographs

10 Apr 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a statutory requirement for the deletion of custody images where no charge or conviction follows.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

CCTV: Biometrics

10 Apr 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of integrating facial recognition into existing CCTV infrastructure on civil liberties.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Biometrics: Research

10 Apr 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has issued on using experimental methods in conjunction with facial recognition; and who is responsible for enforcing that guidance.