Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were held on pre-charge bail for (a) three to 12 months and (b) over 12 months in the last year.

There is currently no maximum period of pre-charge bail. This Government feels that it cannot be right that people can spend months or even years on pre-charge bail with no oversight.

That is why the Home Secretary announced on 23 March a package of measures to reduce both the number of individuals subject to, and the average duration of, pre-charge bail. As set out in the Gracious Speech, we will legislate in the Policing and Criminal Justice Bill to adopt those reforms. These measures will make pre-charge bail more effective and will bring greater accountability to the system.

The Home Office does not hold the data requested. Estimated annual figures for the whole of England and Wales are set out on page 25 of the Government consultation response, published on 23 March and available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/pre-charge-bail-consultation-on-statutory-time-limits-and-related-changes. Those figures are based on comparable data from twelve forces, scaled nationally on the basis of the number of arrests for notifiable offences per force.