Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many recorded breaches of the 36 hour custody limit under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 occurred in the last three years; and what (a) disciplinary and (b) legal consequences resulted from those breaches.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
When the police interview a suspect they must explain that they do not have to answer questions but there could be consequences if they do not by reading to them the police caution:
“You do not have to say anything. But, it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.”
If the suspect does not understand the caution because they cannot understand English, the custody officer must arrange for the assistance of an interpreter, and if they are considered to be vulnerable then they must be supported throughout the interview by an appropriate adult. Whilst in police custody or undergoing a voluntary interview the suspect has the continuing right to free legal advice.
We keep the operation of police powers, including the police caution, under regular review through engagement with policing stakeholders. We are not aware of any concerns about the effectiveness of the police caution in preventing defendants from withholding information.
The Home Office collects and publishes data on detentions for over 36 hours without warrant of further detention where the person was subsequently released without charge, as part of the annual ‘Police Powers and Procedures: Custody and pre-charge bail’ statistical bulletin. The data is available here: Police powers and procedures England and Wales statistics - GOV.UK
Asked by: Ian Sollom (Liberal Democrat - St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) median, (b) mean and (c) 90th percentile for time on electronically-monitored remand by magistrates' courts was for people found guilty and given non-custodial sentences in each year between 2018 and 2024.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of those remanded in custody and bailed together with details of the final sentence at criminal courts in England and Wales in the remands data tool. This can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.
However, data held centrally does not include information on the time a person spent on remand in prison.
Data on the number of remand prisoners in each prison in the HMPPS estate is routinely published within the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly (OMSQ): Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Ian Sollom (Liberal Democrat - St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) median, (b) mean and (c) 90th percentile for time on electronically-monitored remand by magistrates' courts was for people found guilty and sentenced to immediate custody in each year between 2018 and 2024.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of those remanded in custody and bailed together with details of the final sentence at criminal courts in England and Wales in the remands data tool. This can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.
However, data held centrally does not include information on the time a person spent on remand in prison.
Data on the number of remand prisoners in each prison in the HMPPS estate is routinely published within the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly (OMSQ): Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Ian Sollom (Liberal Democrat - St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were remanded into electronically-monitored court bail by magistrates' courts in each year between 2018 and 2024; how many of those were (a) later found not guilty and (b) had charges not proceeded against; and what the (i) median, (ii) mean and (iii) 90th percentile for time on electronically-monitored remand was for people (A) found not guilty of charges for which remanded and (B) not proceeded against.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of those remanded in custody and bailed together with details of the final sentence at criminal courts in England and Wales in the remands data tool. This can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.
However, data held centrally does not include information on the time a person spent on remand in prison.
Data on the number of remand prisoners in each prison in the HMPPS estate is routinely published within the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly (OMSQ): Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the report entitled Pre-charge bail and released under investigation: Striking a balance, published on 8 December 2020, what recent discussions she has had with police forces on the (a) timeliness of (i) regular case reviews and (ii) updates to people released under investigation and (b) the steps those police forces are taking to (A) ensure the rights of those subject to investigation are respected and (B) maintain public confidence in relation to how suspects are dealt with after they are released from custody.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services regularly inspects police forces on their use of tools such as pre-charge bail and released under investigation (RUI) to manage offenders and protect victims and the wider public from harm. The College of Policing publishes and maintains the statutory guidance on the use of pre-charge bail, including guidance on RUI.
Recent police data suggests that the proportion of suspects on RUI is reducing, with a corresponding increase in the proportion of suspects on pre-charge bail. The Home Office continues to monitor the use of these powers. The latest data, covering the year to March 2024, was published on 27 February 2025 Police custody and pre-charge bail, year ending March 2024 - GOV.UK
Asked by: Baroness Porter of Fulwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reduce the number of foreign national offenders held on remand.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The decision to remand any individual in custody or to grant bail for is solely a matter for the courts and independent judiciary acting in accordance with the law.
We are working with partners across the system to ensure that the recent growth in the remand population is effectively managed.
The Home Office has trialled starting deportation casework earlier in the foreign national offender (FNO) journey, focusing on FNOs awaiting sentencing.
So far, this process has proved effective in increasing the time available to effect departures and has now been expanded to all prisons.
Since 5 July 2024, we have returned over 4,000 FNOs which is more than in the same period 12 months prior.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the recording of non-crime hate incidents on the sentencing of individuals in future criminal proceedings.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
All factual matters material to a criminal sentence must be admitted by the offender or proven in a court to the criminal standard using admissible evidence. By definition, the recording of a previous incident as “non-crime” is unlikely to meet that standard.
The Code for Crown Prosecutors sets out the general principles a prosecutor must apply when making a decision as to whether there is sufficient evidence, and whether it is in the public interest, to authorise criminal charges against a suspect. The Crown Prosecution Service has published guidance on bail, the focus of which is on ensuring that the Court is provided with the relevant information to enable it to come to a proper decision as to whether or not to grant bail, with or without conditions. This will be fact specific to the circumstances of the alleged offence and the defendant. The administrative police recording of an earlier incident or allegation, which has previously been determined not to have been a crime, is unlikely to have any relevance to the question of bail.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, whether the Crown Prosecution Service uses information about recorded non-crime hate incidents in deciding whether to (a) bring charges and (b) recommend bail conditions.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
All factual matters material to a criminal sentence must be admitted by the offender or proven in a court to the criminal standard using admissible evidence. By definition, the recording of a previous incident as “non-crime” is unlikely to meet that standard.
The Code for Crown Prosecutors sets out the general principles a prosecutor must apply when making a decision as to whether there is sufficient evidence, and whether it is in the public interest, to authorise criminal charges against a suspect. The Crown Prosecution Service has published guidance on bail, the focus of which is on ensuring that the Court is provided with the relevant information to enable it to come to a proper decision as to whether or not to grant bail, with or without conditions. This will be fact specific to the circumstances of the alleged offence and the defendant. The administrative police recording of an earlier incident or allegation, which has previously been determined not to have been a crime, is unlikely to have any relevance to the question of bail.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people absconded while on bail awaiting trial in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of people sentenced for failing to surrender to bail under section 6 of the Bail Act 1976 at criminal courts in England and Wales in the Outcomes by Offences data tool that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign national offenders have breached the conditions of their tag in each of the last five years.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Available information on the number of individuals electronically monitored (EM) in each of the last five years is available here: Electronic Monitoring Statistics Annual Publication, March 2024 - GOV.UK, but is not broken down by nationality.
When an FNO breaches the conditions of their EM, the action taken will consider the nature and frequency of breach, the level of harm posed by the person and any previous history of non-compliance, including potential prosecution where the breach relates to refusal to comply with induction onto electronic monitoring (EM), deliberate attempts to remove or damage a device, or tampering with the device so that it fails to operate correctly.
Further details of potential sanctions for non-compliance with EM are set out on Page 93 of the Immigration bail guidance, available at Immigration bail.docx.