Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance his Department has issued to police forces in England and Wales on the use of algorithms in decision-making for (a) bail and (b) release from custody.

All decisions around the application of pre-charge bail and release from custody must comply with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984 its associated Codes of Practice.

The use of pre-charge bail must be necessary and proportionate, and all persons in custody must be dealt with expeditiously, and released as soon as the need for detention no longer applies, as set out in PACE Code C.

The Home Office has not published guidance specifically on the use of algorithms for pre-charge bail and release from custody.

However, the Home Office recognises that emerging data enabled technologies have the potential to transform policing, creating a more efficient and effective service. The Government set up the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) as an advisory body set up by Government and led by an independent board of expert members to investigate and advise on how we can maximise the benefits of these technologies.

The CDEI is conducting a review into the issue of algorithmic bias in various sectors, including crime and justice. The review will aim to support the development of technical means for identifying algorithmic bias that have scope to be applied across different sectors and produce recommendations to government about how any potential harms can be identified and minimised.