Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the impact of releasing suspects under investigation on the time taken to reach a charging decision.

The Government published its response to the Independent Review of Criminal Courts on 12^th October, within which Recommendation 11 makes reference to release upon investigation (RUI). As is set out in response to that recommendation, we agree that we can go further in relation to safeguards for RUI. Further work is needed to fully understand the operational implications of any such changes. This would require full engagement with the NPCC and College of Policing to ensure any approach is workable and carefully implemented.

Section 37 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) allows for a suspect who is not charged to be released from custody. The Policing and Crime Act 2017 has since amended PACE, to make release without bail the default position unless the statutory test for pre-charge bail is met.