Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Justice on the sharing of information between (a) police forces, (b) probation services and (c) community rehabilitation companies on the decision-making process for (a) bail and (b) release from custody.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Home Secretary has regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Justice on a range of topics.
Decisions about pre-charge bail and release from custody must be made according to the criteria set out in relevant legislation, and where information from other agencies is used to inform such decisions it must be processed in accordance with relevant legal parameters.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
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.
Answered by Nick Hurd
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.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions he has had with Police and Crime Commissioners in England and Wales on the use of algorithms in the criminal justice system.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Home Office has regular discussions with Police and Crime Commissioners across a wide range of issues.
We recognise the potential that the use of emerging technologies present in the Criminal Justice System for improving outcomes for citizens and also the importance of ensuring that these are used in a way which is compliant with appropriate legal and ethical frameworks. We welcome the work by the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) to develop a code of practice for use of algorithms in predictive policing and will be working with them to develop it.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions he has had with social media organisations on age verification on their platforms.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Home Secretary met US technology companies in November to discuss a range of issues on online child sexual exploitation and abuse, including how to ensure underage children are not given access to their platforms.
The Government have been clear that we expect tech companies to remove child sexual abuse content when they find it, stop online grooming, shut down live streaming and, where necessary, have robust age verification measures in place to keep children safe
The Home Office and Department of Culture, Media and Sport are engaging with the key industry stakeholders on the forthcoming Online Harms White Paper, which will set out a range of legislative and non-legislative measures to tackle online harms and set clear responsibilities for tech companies to keep UK citizens safe.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what procedures are in place to monitor compliance with bail conditions.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The monitoring of compliance with pre-charge bail conditions is an operational matter for the police, taking into account the circumstances surrounding individual cases.
The Home Office will continue to work with partners across the criminal justice system on matters related to pre-charge bail. The National Police Chiefs’ Council are leading work to ensure the proportionate and effective imposition and management of pre-charge bail and released under investigation.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average waiting time is for a person who has been released under investigation to be contacted by an investigating officer.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Home Office does not centrally hold the information requested.
The timely and effective management of investigations is an operational matter for the police. The Home Office continues to work with partners across the criminal justice system, including the National Police Chiefs’ Council to ensure that all investigations are conducted effectively and in a timely fashion.
From April 2017, the Home Office requested information on a voluntary basis from police forces on the number of individuals released on pre-charge bail following arrest, broken down by bail length.
This data collection has been published (as an Annex) within the ‘Police powers and procedures, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, based on data received from 17 forces for the 2017/18 financial period. These figures give an indicative picture only and should be treated with caution – they have been designated as ‘Experimental Statistics’, to acknowledge further development will take place in the future. They can be accessed here:
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were released under investigation by the police in the most recent 12-month period for which figures are available by each police authority.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Home Office does not centrally hold the information requested.
The timely and effective management of investigations is an operational matter for the police. The Home Office continues to work with partners across the criminal justice system, including the National Police Chiefs’ Council to ensure that all investigations are conducted effectively and in a timely fashion.
From April 2017, the Home Office requested information on a voluntary basis from police forces on the number of individuals released on pre-charge bail following arrest, broken down by bail length.
This data collection has been published (as an Annex) within the ‘Police powers and procedures, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, based on data received from 17 forces for the 2017/18 financial period. These figures give an indicative picture only and should be treated with caution – they have been designated as ‘Experimental Statistics’, to acknowledge further development will take place in the future. They can be accessed here:
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of those released under investigation by the police in the last 12 months for which figures are available had no case brought against them.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Home Office does not centrally hold the information requested.
The timely and effective management of investigations is an operational matter for the police. The Home Office continues to work with partners across the criminal justice system, including the National Police Chiefs’ Council to ensure that all investigations are conducted effectively and in a timely fashion.
From April 2017, the Home Office requested information on a voluntary basis from police forces on the number of individuals released on pre-charge bail following arrest, broken down by bail length.
This data collection has been published (as an Annex) within the ‘Police powers and procedures, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, based on data received from 17 forces for the 2017/18 financial period. These figures give an indicative picture only and should be treated with caution – they have been designated as ‘Experimental Statistics’, to acknowledge further development will take place in the future. They can be accessed here:
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether interviews are recorded when a person is interviewed by the police without legal representation.
Answered by Nick Hurd
Whenever a person suspected of committing an offence is questioned under caution about their involvement in an offence, the interview must always be recorded whether or not they have legal representation. These rules are set out in Codes C, E and F of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many illegal combatants returning from conflicts abroad have been prosecuted in each year since 2011.
Answered by Ben Wallace
Approximately 40 individuals have been prosecuted on their return from Syria, either because of offences committed overseas or for activity linked to their involvement in conflict overseas. The offences cover TACT offences and non-TACT offences, but are only included if they were the result of investigations into terrorist-related activity. Not all of the convictions relate to activity in Syria or even TACT offences. All 40 were found guilty of the offences they were charged with.
We do not comment on specific operational matters in order to protect our national security so as not to reveal operational tactics. It would therefore be inappropriate to break down these figures further or to release information about the specific cases involved.
Please note that the safety and security of our country, our people and our communities remains the Government’s number one priority.
Around 900 people of national security concern travelled from the UK to engage in the conflict in Syria and Iraq. Of these, approximately 20% have been killed while overseas, and around 40% have returned to the UK.
The majority of those who have returned, did so in the earlier stages of the conflict, and were investigated on their return. A significant proportion of these individuals are assessed as no longer being of national security concern.
Everyone who returns from taking part in the conflict in Syria or Iraq must expect to be investigated by the police to determine if they have committed criminal offences, and to ensure that they do not pose a threat to our national security.