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To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve the long-term financial sustainability of universities, particularly in the light of rising operating costs, the declining real-terms value of tuition fees, and changes in international student recruitment.
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve the long-term financial sustainability of universities, particularly in the light of rising operating costs, the declining real-terms value of tuition fees, and changes in international student recruitment.
The department remains committed to creating a secure future for the higher education (HE) sector. The Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper sets out our commitment to placing the sector on a more sustainable footing, supporting providers to drive efficiency, strengthening financial resilience, and adopting more effective operating models. We increased tuition fee caps in line with inflation in 2025/26 and are doing the same in 2026/27 and 2027/28.
HE providers are independent from government and are responsible for managing their finances. We encourage providers to work with their staff to develop sustainable business models that retain talent and expertise and provide stability for the workforce and the institution.
The department continues to work closely with the Office for Students to understand the sector’s changing financial landscape.
The International Education Strategy has confirmed our continued commitment to welcome international students who meet the requirements to study in the UK.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial sustainability of universities; and what measures they intend to take to ensure that institutions can maintain teaching and research excellence without reducing academic provision or workforce capacity.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial sustainability of universities; and what measures they intend to take to ensure that institutions can maintain teaching and research excellence without reducing academic provision or workforce capacity.
The department remains committed to creating a secure future for the higher education (HE) sector. The Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper sets out our commitment to placing the sector on a more sustainable footing, supporting providers to drive efficiency, strengthening financial resilience, and adopting more effective operating models. We increased tuition fee caps in line with inflation in 2025/26 and are doing the same in 2026/27 and 2027/28.
HE providers are independent from government and are responsible for managing their finances. We encourage providers to work with their staff to develop sustainable business models that retain talent and expertise and provide stability for the workforce and the institution.
The department continues to work closely with the Office for Students to understand the sector’s changing financial landscape.
The International Education Strategy has confirmed our continued commitment to welcome international students who meet the requirements to study in the UK.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the relationship between out-of-area placements for girls in care and the risk of exploitation, sexual abuse, or other forms of violence against women and girls.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the relationship between out-of-area placements for girls in care and the risk of exploitation, sexual abuse, or other forms of violence against women and girls.
The department welcomes Become's report ‘Gone Too Far’ and its focus on getting the voices of those with care experience heard.
While some out-of-area placements are necessary to meet a child's individual needs or keep them safe, we know that living far from support networks can affect stability and wellbeing, disrupting relationships with family, friends and trusted professionals, undermining educational continuity and making it harder for children to maintain important community connections.
For some children, this can increase vulnerability to exploitation, sexual abuse and other forms of harm.
Moving a child away from their home area is a significant decision and must be approved by the Director of Children's Services, only when the move is in the child's best interests. Local authorities have ongoing duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of looked-after children, including through regular social worker oversight and a statutory requirement to notify the authority in which a child is placed.
The aim of the government's Enduring Relationships Strategy is for all children in care to have the support and stability they need to form and maintain healthy relationships throughout their lives.
Through the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, we are strengthening information sharing and multi-agency child protection arrangements and improving the response to child sexual exploitation and other extra-familial harms. We are also investing £560 million to expand children's homes and foster care capacity and developing regional care cooperatives to help more children, including girls at risk of exploitation and abuse, access safe, high-quality care closer to home.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Become, Gone Too Far: How being moved far away puts care-experienced girls at risk, published in July 2026; and what assessment they have made of the risks posed by distant placements in the children's social care system...
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Become, Gone Too Far: How being moved far away puts care-experienced girls at risk, published in July 2026; and what assessment they have made of the risks posed by distant placements in the children's social care system...
The department welcomes Become's report ‘Gone Too Far’ and its focus on getting the voices of those with care experience heard.
While some out-of-area placements are necessary to meet a child's individual needs or keep them safe, we know that living far from support networks can affect stability and wellbeing, disrupting relationships with family, friends and trusted professionals, undermining educational continuity and making it harder for children to maintain important community connections.
For some children, this can increase vulnerability to exploitation, sexual abuse and other forms of harm.
Moving a child away from their home area is a significant decision and must be approved by the Director of Children's Services, only when the move is in the child's best interests. Local authorities have ongoing duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of looked-after children, including through regular social worker oversight and a statutory requirement to notify the authority in which a child is placed.
The aim of the government's Enduring Relationships Strategy is for all children in care to have the support and stability they need to form and maintain healthy relationships throughout their lives.
Through the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, we are strengthening information sharing and multi-agency child protection arrangements and improving the response to child sexual exploitation and other extra-familial harms. We are also investing £560 million to expand children's homes and foster care capacity and developing regional care cooperatives to help more children, including girls at risk of exploitation and abuse, access safe, high-quality care closer to home.
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that children in care are supported to develop the skills, confidence, and security to develop and maintain healthy relationships.
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that children in care are supported to develop the skills, confidence, and security to develop and maintain healthy relationships.
The department welcomes Become's report ‘Gone Too Far’ and its focus on getting the voices of those with care experience heard.
While some out-of-area placements are necessary to meet a child's individual needs or keep them safe, we know that living far from support networks can affect stability and wellbeing, disrupting relationships with family, friends and trusted professionals, undermining educational continuity and making it harder for children to maintain important community connections.
For some children, this can increase vulnerability to exploitation, sexual abuse and other forms of harm.
Moving a child away from their home area is a significant decision and must be approved by the Director of Children's Services, only when the move is in the child's best interests. Local authorities have ongoing duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of looked-after children, including through regular social worker oversight and a statutory requirement to notify the authority in which a child is placed.
The aim of the government's Enduring Relationships Strategy is for all children in care to have the support and stability they need to form and maintain healthy relationships throughout their lives.
Through the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, we are strengthening information sharing and multi-agency child protection arrangements and improving the response to child sexual exploitation and other extra-familial harms. We are also investing £560 million to expand children's homes and foster care capacity and developing regional care cooperatives to help more children, including girls at risk of exploitation and abuse, access safe, high-quality care closer to home.
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the number of girls in care moved far from their communities in circumstances where it is not in their best interests.
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the number of girls in care moved far from their communities in circumstances where it is not in their best interests.
The department welcomes Become's report ‘Gone Too Far’ and its focus on getting the voices of those with care experience heard.
While some out-of-area placements are necessary to meet a child's individual needs or keep them safe, we know that living far from support networks can affect stability and wellbeing, disrupting relationships with family, friends and trusted professionals, undermining educational continuity and making it harder for children to maintain important community connections.
For some children, this can increase vulnerability to exploitation, sexual abuse and other forms of harm.
Moving a child away from their home area is a significant decision and must be approved by the Director of Children's Services, only when the move is in the child's best interests. Local authorities have ongoing duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of looked-after children, including through regular social worker oversight and a statutory requirement to notify the authority in which a child is placed.
The aim of the government's Enduring Relationships Strategy is for all children in care to have the support and stability they need to form and maintain healthy relationships throughout their lives.
Through the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, we are strengthening information sharing and multi-agency child protection arrangements and improving the response to child sexual exploitation and other extra-familial harms. We are also investing £560 million to expand children's homes and foster care capacity and developing regional care cooperatives to help more children, including girls at risk of exploitation and abuse, access safe, high-quality care closer to home.
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent children in care from being moved to areas that do not reflect their cultural, racial, linguistic, or religious identity or community.
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent children in care from being moved to areas that do not reflect their cultural, racial, linguistic, or religious identity or community.
The department welcomes Become's report ‘Gone Too Far’ and its focus on getting the voices of those with care experience heard.
While some out-of-area placements are necessary to meet a child's individual needs or keep them safe, we know that living far from support networks can affect stability and wellbeing, disrupting relationships with family, friends and trusted professionals, undermining educational continuity and making it harder for children to maintain important community connections.
For some children, this can increase vulnerability to exploitation, sexual abuse and other forms of harm.
Moving a child away from their home area is a significant decision and must be approved by the Director of Children's Services, only when the move is in the child's best interests. Local authorities have ongoing duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of looked-after children, including through regular social worker oversight and a statutory requirement to notify the authority in which a child is placed.
The aim of the government's Enduring Relationships Strategy is for all children in care to have the support and stability they need to form and maintain healthy relationships throughout their lives.
Through the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, we are strengthening information sharing and multi-agency child protection arrangements and improving the response to child sexual exploitation and other extra-familial harms. We are also investing £560 million to expand children's homes and foster care capacity and developing regional care cooperatives to help more children, including girls at risk of exploitation and abuse, access safe, high-quality care closer to home.
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure girls in care who have been moved far from their home communities receive consistent and regular oversight and support from social work professionals.
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure girls in care who have been moved far from their home communities receive consistent and regular oversight and support from social work professionals.
The department welcomes Become's report ‘Gone Too Far’ and its focus on getting the voices of those with care experience heard.
While some out-of-area placements are necessary to meet a child's individual needs or keep them safe, we know that living far from support networks can affect stability and wellbeing, disrupting relationships with family, friends and trusted professionals, undermining educational continuity and making it harder for children to maintain important community connections.
For some children, this can increase vulnerability to exploitation, sexual abuse and other forms of harm.
Moving a child away from their home area is a significant decision and must be approved by the Director of Children's Services, only when the move is in the child's best interests. Local authorities have ongoing duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of looked-after children, including through regular social worker oversight and a statutory requirement to notify the authority in which a child is placed.
The aim of the government's Enduring Relationships Strategy is for all children in care to have the support and stability they need to form and maintain healthy relationships throughout their lives.
Through the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, we are strengthening information sharing and multi-agency child protection arrangements and improving the response to child sexual exploitation and other extra-familial harms. We are also investing £560 million to expand children's homes and foster care capacity and developing regional care cooperatives to help more children, including girls at risk of exploitation and abuse, access safe, high-quality care closer to home.
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent AI-generated images that sexualise children being created based on images posted on social media by parents or family members.
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent AI-generated images that sexualise children being created based on images posted on social media by parents or family members.
This Government is taking robust action to tackle the growing threat of AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM), including where offenders use innocent images of children to create sexualised or abusive content.
The law is crystal clear: child sexual abuse material is illegal regardless of whether it is produced using artificial intelligence or any other means. Law enforcement agencies will pursue those who create, possess, distribute or use such material to facilitate further offending, including blackmail and coercion.
Through the Crime and Policing Act, we have introduced a new offence targeting AI models designed or adapted to generate child sexual abuse material, helping to prevent this abuse at its source. We have also taken action to ban so-called "nudify" tools, which can be used to create sexually explicit images from posted images, including images of children.
In addition, we have introduced a technology testing defence to enable authorised organisations, child protection charities and other AI safety companies to safely test AI systems and identify vulnerabilities within AI models. This supports the development of stronger safeguards to prevent AI systems from being able to generate child sexual abuse material in the first place.
Online services also have duties under the Online Safety Act to assess risks and implement proportionate measures to protect users, particularly children. They are also required to tackle illegal content on their platforms, including by implementing effective systems and processes to reduce the risk of illegal content being shared across public and private spaces, and by providing users with clear and accessible reporting mechanisms.
The Government is also working closely with industry, law enforcement, child protection organisations and the AI Security Institute to understand AI risks and improve safeguards across the AI ecosystem, to reduce opportunities for offenders to create, distribute and profit from AI-generated child sexual abuse material.
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent AI-generated sexual images of children being used to blackmail people.
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent AI-generated sexual images of children being used to blackmail people.
This Government is taking robust action to tackle the growing threat of AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM), including where offenders use innocent images of children to create sexualised or abusive content.
The law is crystal clear: child sexual abuse material is illegal regardless of whether it is produced using artificial intelligence or any other means. Law enforcement agencies will pursue those who create, possess, distribute or use such material to facilitate further offending, including blackmail and coercion.
Through the Crime and Policing Act, we have introduced a new offence targeting AI models designed or adapted to generate child sexual abuse material, helping to prevent this abuse at its source. We have also taken action to ban so-called "nudify" tools, which can be used to create sexually explicit images from posted images, including images of children.
In addition, we have introduced a technology testing defence to enable authorised organisations, child protection charities and other AI safety companies to safely test AI systems and identify vulnerabilities within AI models. This supports the development of stronger safeguards to prevent AI systems from being able to generate child sexual abuse material in the first place.
Online services also have duties under the Online Safety Act to assess risks and implement proportionate measures to protect users, particularly children. They are also required to tackle illegal content on their platforms, including by implementing effective systems and processes to reduce the risk of illegal content being shared across public and private spaces, and by providing users with clear and accessible reporting mechanisms.
The Government is also working closely with industry, law enforcement, child protection organisations and the AI Security Institute to understand AI risks and improve safeguards across the AI ecosystem, to reduce opportunities for offenders to create, distribute and profit from AI-generated child sexual abuse material.
To ask His Majesty's Government whether their forthcoming measures on persuasive design will address features such as communication streaks and network expansion prompts that may encourage children to begin or continue contact with unknown or abusive users.
To ask His Majesty's Government whether their forthcoming measures on persuasive design will address features such as communication streaks and network expansion prompts that may encourage children to begin or continue contact with unknown or abusive users.
On 15 June, the government published a progress statement in response to the ‘Growing up in the Online World’ consultation.
This set out a package of new measures including banning social media platforms from offering their services to under 16s and restricting harmful functionalities, including stranger communication, across a wider range of services for under 16s. Restrictions on harmful functionalities will also be on by default for 16 and 17 year olds.
The government has committed to provide a further update, including on restrictions for persuasive design features, in the coming weeks.
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology on 15 June (HC Deb 592), whether they plan to take steps to prevent AI chatbots providing inadequate safeguarding advice and misleading information to child users.
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology on 15 June (HC Deb 592), whether they plan to take steps to prevent AI chatbots providing inadequate safeguarding advice and misleading information to child users.
We have taken a power in the Crime and Policing Act to close loopholes in the Online Safety Act regarding AI chatbots. This means unregulated chatbots will have to comply with duties under the Online Safety Act to protect their users from illegal content once the relevant legislation is passed.
Alongside this we are considering the evidence from the ‘Growing up in the online world’ consultation. Some responses felt that chatbots could support children’s wellbeing. However, we also heard concerns about how these services can provide children with harmful, misleading, or inaccurate advice.
Following the publication of the progress statement in June, we plan to provide a further update on the consultation in the coming weeks.
To ask The Senior Deputy Speaker why the House of Lords decided to outsource the provision of cleaning services; and what discussions have been had with the contractors who now provide these services over the numbers of cleaners made redundant since the start of 2026, and the reasons for these...
To ask The Senior Deputy Speaker why the House of Lords decided to outsource the provision of cleaning services; and what discussions have been had with the contractors who now provide these services over the numbers of cleaners made redundant since the start of 2026, and the reasons for these...
The contract with Churchill Cleaning is jointly held with the House of Commons. Parliament has outsourced the majority of its cleaning services for more than 15 years for operational efficiency and financial reasons. It is for our contractor to explain the reasons for its employment decisions. However, the House Administrations have made clear their concerns to Churchill Cleaning about the pace and scale of the proposed changes and have received assurances regarding continued delivery to contractual standards. Our cleaners are highly valued members of our community and we are emphasising this to Churchill Cleaning in our discussions with them.
To ask His Majesty's Government, following their decision to mandate on-device nudity safeguards, what steps they intend to take to ensure that the public is aware that the relevant technology does not collect, transfer, or store user data.
To ask His Majesty's Government, following their decision to mandate on-device nudity safeguards, what steps they intend to take to ensure that the public is aware that the relevant technology does not collect, transfer, or store user data.
The Prime Minister announced on 8 June that the UK will be the first country in the world where it will be impossible for any child in the UK to take share or view nude images.
We will work with tech companies for three months to ensure that comprehensive nudity detection is implemented at operating system level, with adults able to switch it off by proving they are over-18 through age assurance. If industry does not meet our high expectations, then we will legislate.
Nudity detection happens entirely on‑device: no data leaves the device; there is no reporting to industry, government or law enforcement. Apple and Google have both produced public documentation explaining that their existing nudity detection technology happens entirely on device and neither company has access to the imagery,
Our engagement with industry over three months is with the objective of enhancing this existing technology to apply comprehensively and effectively across the device. Efficacy, proportionality and user privacy will of course continue to be central to those discussions.
To ask His Majesty's Government, following their decision to mandate on-device nudity safeguards, what consideration they have given to requiring the use of the same technology to deploy universal screen time limits on every device used by a child.
To ask His Majesty's Government, following their decision to mandate on-device nudity safeguards, what consideration they have given to requiring the use of the same technology to deploy universal screen time limits on every device used by a child.
The Prime Minister announced on 8 June that the UK will be the first country in the world where it will be impossible for any child in the UK to take share or view nude images. We will work with tech companies for three months to ensure that comprehensive nudity detection is implemented at operating system level, with adults able to switch it off by proving they are over-18 through age assurance. If industry does not meet our high expectations, then we will legislate.
The primary aim of this intervention is to disrupt grooming and sextortion pathways, to prevent exploitation of children as early as possible; and as an additional safety intervention to ensure that children cannot access pornographic material.
It is important that each user of a smartphone uses the device with their own operating system account. Such an account should be set up with nudity detection default-on, and only deactivated through age assurance to prove the user is over-18. If a device is shared, parents/carers should make sure that default-on nudity detection protections are not deactivated if the device is likely to be used by a child. Parents/carers should also be mindful if their phone – which may have nudity detection deactivated – is picked up by a child. Risks such as this, amongst others, will rightly form part of the government's three-month engagement with tech companies to work through technical solutions to meet the government's objective.
While this intervention is specifically bounded to nudity detection which can be deactivated through age assurance to prove the user is over-18, the government will consider the benefits and risks of wider potential use cases for these technological innovations.
Device-level age assurance could have further applicability to other online age restrictions. The Prime Minister announced restrictions on social media services for under-16s, on 15 June - Social media to be banned for under-16s in landmark government move to give kids their childhood back - GOV.UK.
The government committed to learn lessons from Australia’s experience by introducing more highly effective age assurance (HEAA) measures to support compliance, making it far harder for children to bypass safeguards; and that Ofcom will conduct a rapid study on what is effective age assurance for verifying whether someone is over 16.
Device-level age assurance can be more effective, convenient and privacy preserving for the user – including making it harder for users to circumvent restrictions via VPNs as can be done with platform level age checks. The government will continue to actively consider the extent to which device-level age assurance could be used to restrict access to age-gated services, such as social media and VPN services. The government’s announcement on 15 June 2026 did not include any explicit proposal to restrict or ban VPNs for under-16s, or universal screen time proposals.
We welcome measures that tech companies have already brought forward in this area – such as nudity detection already implemented by both Apple and Google. Apple introduced device-level age assurance in its iOS26.4 operating system update in March 2026, and expanded Communication Safety features to intervene when gore or violent content is detected on child accounts. These are constructive and welcome developments, which will protect children from other types of harmful content as well as nudity. Key to the targeting of such interventions is the differentiation of a child user of a device, which can be achieved through device-level age assurance to activate other safety interventions. The government will continue to consider options to go further in this respect.
Regarding the use, and restricted use, of devices while children are at school, Department for Education guidance (updated February 2026) is explicit that all schools should be mobile phone free environments by default, and that schools prohibit the use of mobile phones throughout the school day. Furthermore, the government continually horizon scans to appraise new technological innovations which may enable better safeguarding of children online, and device usage in school. The government engages with industry regularly to stay abreast of promising products which could be applied to better safeguarding children.
To ask His Majesty's Government, following their decision to mandate on-device nudity safeguards, what consideration they have given to requiring the use of the same technology to prevent children from (1) accessing proscribed social media sites, and (2) using virtual private networks to circumvent such a ban.
To ask His Majesty's Government, following their decision to mandate on-device nudity safeguards, what consideration they have given to requiring the use of the same technology to prevent children from (1) accessing proscribed social media sites, and (2) using virtual private networks to circumvent such a ban.
The Prime Minister announced on 8 June that the UK will be the first country in the world where it will be impossible for any child in the UK to take share or view nude images. We will work with tech companies for three months to ensure that comprehensive nudity detection is implemented at operating system level, with adults able to switch it off by proving they are over-18 through age assurance. If industry does not meet our high expectations, then we will legislate.
The primary aim of this intervention is to disrupt grooming and sextortion pathways, to prevent exploitation of children as early as possible; and as an additional safety intervention to ensure that children cannot access pornographic material.
It is important that each user of a smartphone uses the device with their own operating system account. Such an account should be set up with nudity detection default-on, and only deactivated through age assurance to prove the user is over-18. If a device is shared, parents/carers should make sure that default-on nudity detection protections are not deactivated if the device is likely to be used by a child. Parents/carers should also be mindful if their phone – which may have nudity detection deactivated – is picked up by a child. Risks such as this, amongst others, will rightly form part of the government's three-month engagement with tech companies to work through technical solutions to meet the government's objective.
While this intervention is specifically bounded to nudity detection which can be deactivated through age assurance to prove the user is over-18, the government will consider the benefits and risks of wider potential use cases for these technological innovations.
Device-level age assurance could have further applicability to other online age restrictions. The Prime Minister announced restrictions on social media services for under-16s, on 15 June - Social media to be banned for under-16s in landmark government move to give kids their childhood back - GOV.UK.
The government committed to learn lessons from Australia’s experience by introducing more highly effective age assurance (HEAA) measures to support compliance, making it far harder for children to bypass safeguards; and that Ofcom will conduct a rapid study on what is effective age assurance for verifying whether someone is over 16.
Device-level age assurance can be more effective, convenient and privacy preserving for the user – including making it harder for users to circumvent restrictions via VPNs as can be done with platform level age checks. The government will continue to actively consider the extent to which device-level age assurance could be used to restrict access to age-gated services, such as social media and VPN services. The government’s announcement on 15 June 2026 did not include any explicit proposal to restrict or ban VPNs for under-16s, or universal screen time proposals.
We welcome measures that tech companies have already brought forward in this area – such as nudity detection already implemented by both Apple and Google. Apple introduced device-level age assurance in its iOS26.4 operating system update in March 2026, and expanded Communication Safety features to intervene when gore or violent content is detected on child accounts. These are constructive and welcome developments, which will protect children from other types of harmful content as well as nudity. Key to the targeting of such interventions is the differentiation of a child user of a device, which can be achieved through device-level age assurance to activate other safety interventions. The government will continue to consider options to go further in this respect.
Regarding the use, and restricted use, of devices while children are at school, Department for Education guidance (updated February 2026) is explicit that all schools should be mobile phone free environments by default, and that schools prohibit the use of mobile phones throughout the school day. Furthermore, the government continually horizon scans to appraise new technological innovations which may enable better safeguarding of children online, and device usage in school. The government engages with industry regularly to stay abreast of promising products which could be applied to better safeguarding children.
To ask His Majesty's Government, following their decision to mandate on-device nudity safeguards, what consideration they have given to requiring the use of the same technology to temporarily disable the camera and certain applications on students’ mobile phones while on school grounds.
To ask His Majesty's Government, following their decision to mandate on-device nudity safeguards, what consideration they have given to requiring the use of the same technology to temporarily disable the camera and certain applications on students’ mobile phones while on school grounds.
The Prime Minister announced on 8 June that the UK will be the first country in the world where it will be impossible for any child in the UK to take share or view nude images. We will work with tech companies for three months to ensure that comprehensive nudity detection is implemented at operating system level, with adults able to switch it off by proving they are over-18 through age assurance. If industry does not meet our high expectations, then we will legislate.
The primary aim of this intervention is to disrupt grooming and sextortion pathways, to prevent exploitation of children as early as possible; and as an additional safety intervention to ensure that children cannot access pornographic material.
It is important that each user of a smartphone uses the device with their own operating system account. Such an account should be set up with nudity detection default-on, and only deactivated through age assurance to prove the user is over-18. If a device is shared, parents/carers should make sure that default-on nudity detection protections are not deactivated if the device is likely to be used by a child. Parents/carers should also be mindful if their phone – which may have nudity detection deactivated – is picked up by a child. Risks such as this, amongst others, will rightly form part of the government's three-month engagement with tech companies to work through technical solutions to meet the government's objective.
While this intervention is specifically bounded to nudity detection which can be deactivated through age assurance to prove the user is over-18, the government will consider the benefits and risks of wider potential use cases for these technological innovations.
Device-level age assurance could have further applicability to other online age restrictions. The Prime Minister announced restrictions on social media services for under-16s, on 15 June - Social media to be banned for under-16s in landmark government move to give kids their childhood back - GOV.UK.
The government committed to learn lessons from Australia’s experience by introducing more highly effective age assurance (HEAA) measures to support compliance, making it far harder for children to bypass safeguards; and that Ofcom will conduct a rapid study on what is effective age assurance for verifying whether someone is over 16.
Device-level age assurance can be more effective, convenient and privacy preserving for the user – including making it harder for users to circumvent restrictions via VPNs as can be done with platform level age checks. The government will continue to actively consider the extent to which device-level age assurance could be used to restrict access to age-gated services, such as social media and VPN services. The government’s announcement on 15 June 2026 did not include any explicit proposal to restrict or ban VPNs for under-16s, or universal screen time proposals.
We welcome measures that tech companies have already brought forward in this area – such as nudity detection already implemented by both Apple and Google. Apple introduced device-level age assurance in its iOS26.4 operating system update in March 2026, and expanded Communication Safety features to intervene when gore or violent content is detected on child accounts. These are constructive and welcome developments, which will protect children from other types of harmful content as well as nudity. Key to the targeting of such interventions is the differentiation of a child user of a device, which can be achieved through device-level age assurance to activate other safety interventions. The government will continue to consider options to go further in this respect.
Regarding the use, and restricted use, of devices while children are at school, Department for Education guidance (updated February 2026) is explicit that all schools should be mobile phone free environments by default, and that schools prohibit the use of mobile phones throughout the school day. Furthermore, the government continually horizon scans to appraise new technological innovations which may enable better safeguarding of children online, and device usage in school. The government engages with industry regularly to stay abreast of promising products which could be applied to better safeguarding children.
To ask His Majesty's Government, following their decision to mandate on-device nudity safeguards, what consideration they have given to requiring the use of the same technology to identify and block (1) hate speech, racism and other text-based harms, and (2) extreme gore, violence, self-harm and suicide ideation-based content, on mobile...
To ask His Majesty's Government, following their decision to mandate on-device nudity safeguards, what consideration they have given to requiring the use of the same technology to identify and block (1) hate speech, racism and other text-based harms, and (2) extreme gore, violence, self-harm and suicide ideation-based content, on mobile...
The Prime Minister announced on 8 June that the UK will be the first country in the world where it will be impossible for any child in the UK to take share or view nude images. We will work with tech companies for three months to ensure that comprehensive nudity detection is implemented at operating system level, with adults able to switch it off by proving they are over-18 through age assurance. If industry does not meet our high expectations, then we will legislate.
The primary aim of this intervention is to disrupt grooming and sextortion pathways, to prevent exploitation of children as early as possible; and as an additional safety intervention to ensure that children cannot access pornographic material.
It is important that each user of a smartphone uses the device with their own operating system account. Such an account should be set up with nudity detection default-on, and only deactivated through age assurance to prove the user is over-18. If a device is shared, parents/carers should make sure that default-on nudity detection protections are not deactivated if the device is likely to be used by a child. Parents/carers should also be mindful if their phone – which may have nudity detection deactivated – is picked up by a child. Risks such as this, amongst others, will rightly form part of the government's three-month engagement with tech companies to work through technical solutions to meet the government's objective.
While this intervention is specifically bounded to nudity detection which can be deactivated through age assurance to prove the user is over-18, the government will consider the benefits and risks of wider potential use cases for these technological innovations.
Device-level age assurance could have further applicability to other online age restrictions. The Prime Minister announced restrictions on social media services for under-16s, on 15 June - Social media to be banned for under-16s in landmark government move to give kids their childhood back - GOV.UK.
The government committed to learn lessons from Australia’s experience by introducing more highly effective age assurance (HEAA) measures to support compliance, making it far harder for children to bypass safeguards; and that Ofcom will conduct a rapid study on what is effective age assurance for verifying whether someone is over 16.
Device-level age assurance can be more effective, convenient and privacy preserving for the user – including making it harder for users to circumvent restrictions via VPNs as can be done with platform level age checks. The government will continue to actively consider the extent to which device-level age assurance could be used to restrict access to age-gated services, such as social media and VPN services. The government’s announcement on 15 June 2026 did not include any explicit proposal to restrict or ban VPNs for under-16s, or universal screen time proposals.
We welcome measures that tech companies have already brought forward in this area – such as nudity detection already implemented by both Apple and Google. Apple introduced device-level age assurance in its iOS26.4 operating system update in March 2026, and expanded Communication Safety features to intervene when gore or violent content is detected on child accounts. These are constructive and welcome developments, which will protect children from other types of harmful content as well as nudity. Key to the targeting of such interventions is the differentiation of a child user of a device, which can be achieved through device-level age assurance to activate other safety interventions. The government will continue to consider options to go further in this respect.
Regarding the use, and restricted use, of devices while children are at school, Department for Education guidance (updated February 2026) is explicit that all schools should be mobile phone free environments by default, and that schools prohibit the use of mobile phones throughout the school day. Furthermore, the government continually horizon scans to appraise new technological innovations which may enable better safeguarding of children online, and device usage in school. The government engages with industry regularly to stay abreast of promising products which could be applied to better safeguarding children.
To ask His Majesty's Government, following their decision to mandate on-device nudity safeguards, what consideration they have given to requiring the use of the same technology to deploy real-time age estimation so that when an adult’s phone is picked up by a child it will automatically disable applications that are...
To ask His Majesty's Government, following their decision to mandate on-device nudity safeguards, what consideration they have given to requiring the use of the same technology to deploy real-time age estimation so that when an adult’s phone is picked up by a child it will automatically disable applications that are...
The government recognises the benefits of device-level protections and we are encouraged by industry developments which make smartphones safer for children.
On 8 June, we committed to working with operating system providers over the next three months so that Britain is the first country in the world to make it impossible for children to take, share and view naked pictures on devices.
Where evidence demonstrates that further action is necessary to protect children and the wider public, we will not hesitate to act.
To ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to tackle inconsistent decision-making for victims under the Windrush Compensation Scheme.
To ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to tackle inconsistent decision-making for victims under the Windrush Compensation Scheme.
My Lords, up to March 2026 more than £127 million has been paid out by the Government following claims. All claims are considered individually against the published rules. Caseworkers receive comprehensive training and decisions are subject to robust quality assurance. Anybody who is unhappy about the outcome of their claim can access a free review process, including review by an independent adjudicator, and we use feedback to continuously improve decision-making.