PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Bail (22 October 2014)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to set a maximum time for which a person can be on police bail following arrest and prior to any charge.

Asked by:
Sir Christopher Chope (Conservative)

As my Right Honourable Friend the Home Secretary said in her speech to the College of Policing’s Annual Conference on 15 October, "we must… look at statutory time limits on the use of pre-charge bail to prevent people spending months or even years on bail only for no charges to be brought."

The Home Office will consult shortly on how best to put in place a limit on the duration of pre-charge bail that balances the rights of suspects and the interests of justice.

Answered by:
Sir Mike Penning (Conservative)
29 October 2014