The Government consultation on the pre charge bail system closed on 29 May, receiving over 1,000 responses. Officials are continuing to engage with key stakeholders from across the criminal justice sector on reforms to the pre-charge bail process and the Government remains committed to improving the effectiveness of this system. We are planning to publish our response to the consultation in early 2021.

Pre-charge bail, including the use of conditions to protect domestic abuse and other victims, continues to be available where it is necessary and proportionate.

The Government remains fully committed to considering any further representations regarding the disregard scheme and upholding its intent and purpose.

Work is ongoing across government to explore the feasibility of extending the scheme under Section 166 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017 and to identify what further offences might be added to the list of offences currently eligible for a disregard under Part 5 of the Protections of Freedoms Act 2012.

The Government consultation on the pre charge bail system closed on 29 May. It received over 1,000 responses from a cross section of the criminal justice sector. Our response will be published later this year. Officials will continue to engage with key stakeholders from across the criminal justice sector, analysing responses before deciding next steps.

Pre-charge bail, including the use of conditions to protect domestic abuse and other victims, continues to be available where it is necessary and proportionate. Decisions on pre-charge bail conditions are operational matters for individual police forces and will be assessed on a case by case basis.

The Government completed its public consultation into the pre-charge bail system on 29 May 2020. This included consideration of the impact on victims to ensure that pre-charge bail is used in a proportionate way which safeguards all involved. Analysis of the results from this consultation is ongoing and the Government response will be published later this year.

Pre-charge bail, including the use of conditions to protect domestic abuse and other victims, continues to be available where it is necessary and proportionate. Decisions on pre-charge bail are operational matters for individual police forces and will be assessed on a case by case basis.

Following the 2017 reforms to pre-charge bail, the police are still able to impose pre-charge bail, with appropriate conditions, to protect victims and witnesses in any case where doing so is both necessary and proportionate.

While the legislation is clear that bail remains available in any case where it is necessary and proportionate, the Home Office is working with partners across the Criminal Justice System to monitor the impacts of the reforms, including to ensure that vulnerable victims and witnesses continue to receive appropriate protection, whether through the use of pre-charge bail conditions or otherwise.

In order to ensure that bail is used appropriately, the Home Office has commissioned Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary & Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to review the police’s use of pre-charge bail as part of their annual PEEL effectiveness inspection programme. The use of pre-charge bail continues to feature in HMICFRS’ core assessments and, in November 2018, the Inspectorate will publish a thematic review of how forces are dealing with domestic abuse cases, which will include a focus on the use of bail.

Pre-charge bail is also a regular agenda item at Chief Constables’ Council, where chiefs have noted that there is significant variation in the use of pre-charge bail between forces and that they should ensure that they are content with the approach taken by their force.

Pardons under Section 165 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017 are granted automatically when an individual applies successfully for a conviction to be disregarded. To date, there have been 174 pardons granted through this route, from 404 applications for convictions to be disregarded.

If a disregard application is unsuccessful, the applicant will receive a letter detailing the reason for rejection. Most applications are unsuccessful as the convictions concerned are for ineligible offences, such as theft. Applications are also rejected if the activity was non-consensual, involved a person under 16, or remains an offence.

Full statistics are regularly published on gov.uk.

Six PCCs have submitted proposals to take on governance of local fire and rescue services (Northamptonshire, Hertfordshire, Staffordshire, West Mercia, Cambridgeshire and North Yorkshire). Five of these did not have agreement from the relevant local authorities and so in November 2017 the Secretary of State commissioned independent assessments of the proposals in accordance with the legislation.
These assessments have now been received and decisions will be announced in due course.

The information is not held centrally and to obtain it would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold.

We welcome the guidance that has been developed by the Association of Police and Crime Chief Executives (APACE) which helpfully covers a number of issues a PCC will need to consider when developing and consulting on their business case for fire governance, including the statutory tests the business case is required to meet, the manner in which local consultation should be carried out, its duration, and arrangements the PCC should make to publish their response to the consultation. Whilst the guidance is neither statutory nor subject to any Parliamentary procedure, the Government expects PCCs to take it in to account and the guidance has been shared with all PCCs by APACE. It is for PCCs to determine locally how to best use the guidance and demonstrate how their case meets the statutory tests.

The Secretary of State can only give effect to a police and crime commissioner’s proposal to take on responsibility for the governance of fire and rescue where, in her view, the proposal is in the interests of economy, efficiency and effectiveness, or in the interests of public safety.

The Secretary of State’s decision on whether these statutory tests have been met will be made on a case by case basis; considering the particulars of the case at hand and drawing on relevant available information, such as findings from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services inspections.

The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) has been commissioned to carry out separate independent assessments of proposals from the PCCs of Hertfordshire, Staffordshire, Cambridgeshire, North Yorkshire and West Mercia. CIPFA has substantial public finance expertise and works closely with police and fire and rescue services and is therefore well placed to provide an independent, professional view on business cases.
Whilst the conduct of the assessment is for CIPFA to determine, they have been asked to provide a view on whether they consider the proposal to be in the interests of economy, efficiency and effectiveness, or in the interest of public safety (the statutory tests). CIPFA can contact other organisations if they are of the view that additional input or expertise is necessary to help them make a judgement on whether the proposal is in the interest of the statutory tests. CIPFA secured the views of the local police force, fire service and local authorities during the independent assessment process.

If in response to a PCCs consultation to take on governance of local fire and rescue services, a relevant local authority indicates that it does not support the proposal, the Secretary of State must obtain an Independent Assessment of the proposal. The Home Secretary and I have appointed the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy to carry out independent assessments of the proposals submitted by the PCCs for Hertfordshire, Staffordshire, Cambridgeshire, West Mercia and North Yorkshire.

The Home Office does not centrally hold the information requested.

The Home Office does not centrally hold the information requested.

The Government expects to lay the Regulations provided for in section 81 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017, shortly.

The commencement of sections 80 to 83 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017 - which amend sections 135 and 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 - is being aligned with the making of related regulations on the use of police stations as places of safety for adults. These regulations are currently being finalised and will be laid in Parliament as soon as possible thereafter.

The circumstances in which a police station may be used as place of safety for an adult with a mental disorder will be specified by regulations. These regulations are currently being finalised and will be laid in Parliament as soon as possible thereafter.

The Government will also issue guidance on the implementation of all of the amendments to sections 135 and 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 included in sections 80-83 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017, in time for their coming into force.

Data on the number of people with a mental disorder removed to police stations (under section 135 or 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983) since January 2017 is not yet centrally available. Data for the period between 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017 will be included in Home Office statistics covering 2016-17, due for publication in October 2017. The latest published data showed a 54% reduction in the use of police stations between 2014-15 (4,537 occasions) and 2015-16 (2,100 occasions) for all ages.