Written questions by Dodds.

How decision-makers will account for uncertainty when the estimated age as per Facial Age Estimation technology falls near the threshold between childhood and adulthood.

Awaiting answer.

How Facial Age Estimation results will be presented to caseworkers or other decision-makers, and what weight those results will carry in any age assessment, including in relation to: accommodation, safeguarding, detention, removal and asylum-related decisions.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment she has made of potential bias and differential error rates in Facial Age Estimation technology procured by the Home Office by ethnicity, skin tone, sex and country of origin.

Awaiting answer.

Whether Facial Age Estimation technology procured by the Home Office has been tested on people seeking asylum.

Awaiting answer.

Whether her Department has examined the relative margin of error in Facial Age Estimation technology as compared with other methods of age assessment, when it comes to the assessment of age of people seeking asylum.

Awaiting answer.

What training and guidance will be provided to officials using or interpreting Facial Age Estimation results, including relating to the treatment of uncertainty and trauma-related facial ageing.

Awaiting answer.

What alternatives were used to test against Facial Age Estimation technology in assessing the age of asylum-seeking children aged 15, 16 and 17.

Awaiting answer.

What process will be available for a person seeking asylum to obtain, scrutinise, challenge or appeal a Facial Age Estimation result and any decision based on that result.

Awaiting answer.

What datasets, images or other personal data have been used to train, validate or test the Facial Age Estimation technology intended for use in asylum age assessments.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment she has made of the accuracy of Facial Age Estimation technology procured by the Home Office when applied to children and young people seeking asylum.

Awaiting answer.

Pursuant to her written statement of 2 March 2026 on Asylum changes, what her planned timetable is for establishing a Named Community Sponsorship scheme.

In the Restoring Order and Control statement, published in November 2025, the Government committed to transforming its approach to safe and legal routes. This included the creation of a named sponsorship scheme and capped routes for refugee and displaced ...

Pursuant to her written statement of 2 March 2026 on Asylum changes, by what date her Department intends to have operationalised a Named Community Sponsorship scheme for refugee resettlement.

In the Restoring Order and Control statement, published in November 2025, the Government committed to transforming its approach to safe and legal routes. This included the creation of a named sponsorship scheme and capped routes for refugee and displaced ...

Pursuant to her written statement of 2 March 2026 on Asylum changes, what is her Department's policy on the intended scale of a Named Community Sponsorship scheme.

In the Restoring Order and Control statement, published in November 2025, the Government committed to transforming its approach to safe and legal routes. This included the creation of a named sponsorship scheme and capped routes for refugee and displaced ...

When the gov.uk website entitled visa processing times: applications inside the UK, will be updated to reflect the average processing time for an application for leave to remain as a partner or spouse

There are currently no plans to update the gov.uk website to reflect the average processing time for an application for leave to remain as a partner or spouse - private life (minimum income and English language not required). The Department will review th...

What the average processing time is for an application for leave to remain as a partner or spouse - private life (minimum income and English language not required).

The average processing time of an application for leave to remain as a partner or spouse - private life (minimum income and English language not required) is 12 months. This information is published here: Visa processing times: applications inside the UK ...

What recent assessment she has made of the efficacy of Border Force protections for children subject to sexual abuse travelling with their abusers.

Border Force Officers have an obligation under Section 55 of the Borders Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 to carry out their core function with due regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in the UK.Border Force Officers are...

What steps her Department is taking to monitor outcomes from the Asylum Case Summarisation system to ensure that summaries are not provided to caseworkers if they (a) include missing information and (b) are inaccurate.

Asylum Case Summarisation (ACS) was designed with the ‘Human in the Loop’ principle in mind. This means it is not possible for decision makers to use the tool to decide an asylum claim; it is an aid to case working. The tool uses a Large Language Model to extract and summarise information from existing asylum interview transcript documents to provide decision-makers with a concise summary document. Asylum Decision Makers are required to read all evidence and case notes specific to the claimant, before deciding a claim.Part of the quality assurance framework asks if all documents submitted in support of a claim have been considered, with quality assurance checks regularly carried out on both asylum interviews and decisions.As part of ongoing evaluation of the Asylum Policy Search (APS) tool, Subject Matter Expert (SME) testing continues in conjunction with the Country Policy and Information Team. A dedicated inbox was created for feedback and/or errors to be flagged and rectified. This is in addition to the existing quality assurance checks conducted in Asylum Operations. ACS has (as of today 27/04) become operational, and the same approach to ongoing evaluation and feedback mechanisms is being set out.

If she will set out the mechanisms her Department are using to monitor the early stages of use of the Asylum Case Summarisation and Asylum Policy Search tools.

Asylum Case Summarisation (ACS) was designed with the ‘Human in the Loop’ principle in mind. This means it is not possible for decision makers to use the tool to decide an asylum claim; it is an aid to case working. The tool uses a Large Language Model to extract and summarise information from existing asylum interview transcript documents to provide decision-makers with a concise summary document. Asylum Decision Makers are required to read all evidence and case notes specific to the claimant, before deciding a claim.Part of the quality assurance framework asks if all documents submitted in support of a claim have been considered, with quality assurance checks regularly carried out on both asylum interviews and decisions.As part of ongoing evaluation of the Asylum Policy Search (APS) tool, Subject Matter Expert (SME) testing continues in conjunction with the Country Policy and Information Team. A dedicated inbox was created for feedback and/or errors to be flagged and rectified. This is in addition to the existing quality assurance checks conducted in Asylum Operations. ACS has (as of today 27/04) become operational, and the same approach to ongoing evaluation and feedback mechanisms is being set out.

To what extent have police officers been trained on the subject of transnational repression.

Police and intelligence services have mature mechanisms in place to assess, detect and disrupt state linked threats, including transnational repression, using a wide range of tactics to protect those at risk.Training has been rolled out across all UK police forces, including upskilling of 999 call handlers, to improve frontline identification of state-directed crimes.The police have implemented new processes which ensure they flag and record crime reports that may involve foreign interference; these are triaged locally and escalated to Counter Terrorism Policing specialists where appropriate, strengthening national visibility of reporting trends and methodologies.

Whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of responses from 999 and 111 services to victims in the UK of transnational repression.

If individuals think they are a victim of any form of state directed activity, they should report this to police via the established mechanisms - 101, 999, or at a local police station.We have carefully considered, in consultation with Counter Terrorism Policing, how best to encourage reporting and ensure that reports received are treated seriously and dealt with appropriately.The existing functions have been found to be efficient, effective, and widely recognised, with trained officers and staff dealing with crime reporting on a 24/7 basis. This ensures policing can respond to the situation as it presents, including immediate deployment of police in an emergency if necessary.These existing mechanisms also ensure victims receive the support and protection they need.Translators and language support are embedded within existing reporting mechanisms, and work is underway to ensure those providing interpretation for policing understand the nature of TNR, supporting accurate referral and victim confidence.