Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were on police bail in each of the last three years.

The Home Office does not centrally hold the information requested.

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.

Data received from 17 police forces has been published within the ‘Police powers and procedures, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, for the 2017/18 financial year. These figures provide an incomplete picture and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales-year-ending-31-march-2018

Data on the number of individuals released on pre-charge bail following arrest, have been requested on a mandatory basis from April 2018, and are intended for publication in the next edition of the ‘Police powers and procedures, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, due for release on 24 October 2019.

The police retain the ability to use pre-charge bail where necessary and proportionate, including to protect witnesses and victims.