Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many suspects in (a) murder and (b) rape cases received bail in each of the last five calendar years.

The Ministry of Justice has published information on defendants remanded on bail in England and Wales up to December 2019, prior to court, at magistrates’ court and at Crown Court:

Remand status prior to court (relating to suspects) is available in the magistrates’ court data tool and is labelled ‘Remand status with Police’.

Magistrates’ court

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/888658/remands-magistrates-court-tool-2019.xlsx

Crown Court

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/888657/remands-crown-court-tool-2019.xlsx

In the data tools, search for murder and rape using the ‘Offence’ filter and the pivot table will populate with the number of defendants by principal (i.e. most serious) remand status for the chosen offences.