Guidance

User guide to operation of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent legislation

Updated 12 September 2024

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

1. Introduction and data quality

This data, formerly known as ‘National Statistics’, is ‘Accredited Official Statistics’. National Statistics is the legal term set out in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 for ‘Accredited Official Statistics’ that have been judged by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR), to comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics (‘the Code’). This means these statistics meet the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value as set out in ‘the Code’. Further information about Accredited Official Statistics can be found on the OSR’s website. This means that these statistics meet the highest standards of trustworthiness, impartiality, quality and public value, and are fully compliant with the Code of Practice for Statistics. Further details on the assessment process can be found on the UK Statistics Authority website.

This user guide is designed to be a useful reference guide for users of these statistics, with explanatory notes on the issues, strengths and limitations of the various datasets, and classifications that are key to the production and presentation of the Home Office’s quarterly statistical releases, Operation of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000.

Data providers

The statistics in this release come from a range of sources. Information on what is included in each section is outlined in the statistics covered section below. The Home Office considers the data to be sufficiently robust, and the quality assurance process undertaken by data providers and Home Office statisticians ensure the risk of any data errors are minimised. Further details on the strength and limitations of each dataset are provided in the quality assurance section below.

• data for the ‘arrests and outcomes’ section is provided by the Counter Terrorism Policing Headquarters (CTPHQ) Coordination Centre
• data for the ‘court proceedings’ section is provided by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)
• data for the ‘terrorist prisoners’ section is provided by HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and the Scottish Prison Service (SPS)
• data on section 43 (s.43) ‘stop and search’ is provided by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS)
• data on powers under Schedule 7 to the Terrorism Act 2000 is provided by CTPHQ

Statistics covered

The series covers the use of various powers under terrorism and terrorism-related legislation in Great Britain. The topics covered are outlined in the list below.

Chapter: Arrests and outcomes

Content: Number of terrorism-related arrests.
Coverage: Great Britain.
Annual or quarterly: Quarterly.

Content: Charging outcome (such as charged, released without charge, and alternative action).
Coverage: Great Britain.
Annual or quarterly: Quarterly.

Content: Prosecution outcome (such as convicted, acquitted, and not proceeded against).
Coverage: Great Britain.
Annual or quarterly: Quarterly.

Content: Number of applications for extension of detention and delayed access to a solicitor under Schedule 8 of TACT 2000.
Coverage: Great Britain.
Annual or quarterly: Quarterly.

Chapter: Court proceedings

Content: Number of proceedings brought by the CPS for terrorism-related offences.
Coverage: England and Wales.
Annual or quarterly: Quarterly.

Content: Appeals against convictions and sentences.
Coverage: England and Wales.
Annual or quarterly: Annual.

Chapter: Terrorist prisoners

Content: Persons in prison for terrorism-related offences.
Coverage: Great Britain.
Annual or quarterly: Quarterly.

Content: Persons released from prison.
Coverage: Great Britain.
Annual or quarterly: Quarterly.

Chapter: Stop and search

Content: Stops and searches and resultant arrests under s.43 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
Coverage: MPS.
Annual or quarterly: Quarterly.

Content: Stops and searches and resultant arrests under s.47A of the Terrorism Act 2000.
Coverage: Great Britain.
Annual or quarterly: Quarterly.

Content: Examinations (of persons, and sea and air freight), strip searches, biometrics taken, and postponement of questioning refusals under Schedule 7 to the Terrorism Act 2000.
Coverage: Great Britain.
Annual or quarterly: Quarterly.

Content: Cordons under s.33 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
Coverage: Great Britain.
Annual or quarterly: Annual.

Quality assurance

Before the data is published, it undergoes a strict quality assurance (QA) process. The first part is undertaken by data providers, who need to keep administrative datasets accurate and up to date for operational purposes. This section details both why it is important to ensure datasets are accurate, and how these datasets are quality assured by data providers.

The second part of the QA process is undertaken by statisticians in the Home Office. This part of the process identifies any potential data quality issues, which are then raised and resolved with the data providers. In addition to the specific checks carried out, trend analysis is also undertaken. Any unusual trends are raised with the data providers to ensure they are genuine, and not a result of data quality issues.

Once the data has been quality assured and any issues resolved, the final data is sent back to the relevant data providers for verification before it is published.

While all datasets undergo a thorough QA process, the level of it varies according to factors such as the profile of the dataset, the likelihood of error, and what the data is used for. The relative level of risk for each dataset is shown in brackets in the list below.

Dataset: Arrests and outcomes (High)

Data providers: CTPHQ Coordination Centre.

Why is the data quality assured?
The CTPHQ Coordination Centre is responsible for coordinating national information on counter-terrorism (CT) activity. It is essential that records are accurate and up to date to ensure that security services have access to reliable information. If systems are not accurate, this can pose issues of national security.

Data from this system is provided to the Homeland Security Group (HSG) within the Home Office for security and intelligence monitoring on a monthly basis.

The data is used internally for monitoring purposes and is often quoted publicly by senior members of the police.

How is the data quality assured?
Data providers maintain regular contact with the police to ensure records are accurate and up to date. They record bail and court dates so that any outstanding cases can be queried. The CTPHQ Coordination Centre has a robust reminder system to ensure these are not missed.

CT hubs are required to report arrests to the CTPHQ Coordination Centre as soon as they occur. Where this does not happen, the CTPHQ Coordination Centre have daily briefings with CT hubs to ensure details of any arrests are collated. The risk of an arrest not being recorded is very small.

A number of consistency checks are carried out on the data before it is sent to the Home Office. Any errors are flagged and, where necessary, amended in the source system. Any missing values are resolved with CT hubs.

Court proceedings (Medium)

Data providers: CPS.

Why is the data quality assured?
The CPS maintains up to date and accurate information in order to process individuals through the court system. It is important that the CPS is able to monitor the demand on their services in order to be able to provide an effective service.

The CPS generates quarterly reports for internal monitoring purposes. These include detailed breakdowns of individual cases.

Information on offenders and sentencing is shared between the courts and prison services to ensure relevant provisions can be implemented to manage offenders.

How is the data quality assured?
To minimise the risk of missing and inaccurate data, offender details are cross-checked against physical copies of indictments, charge sheets and hearing notes to ensure the information is accurate.

The data is monitored and spot checked on a monthly basis by a dedicated performance manager.

In order to ensure cases are correctly categorised as terrorism cases, individual charges (used to categorise a case) are monitored and checked on a monthly basis to ensure each case has been correctly categorised.

Prison populations (Medium)

Data providers: SPS and HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS).

Why is the data quality assured?
The SPS and HMPPS regularly monitor prison populations and sentence lengths to ensure the prison system can meet changing demands.

The data is used to monitor when prisoners are due for release.

The data feeds into other national statistics publications, such as the quarterly offender management statistics. The statistical collection contains more information on the data quality.

How is the data quality assured?
The HMPSS prison list which feeds the data in this release is cross-referenced against the Prison National Offender Management Information System (Prison-NOMIS) on a weekly basis. This ensures data is up to date and any missing information is queried.

Records of any changes to prisoner status are kept and can be cross-referenced when data quality issues arise.

The HMPPS team work closely with the police on a weekly basis to ensure any amendments are accounted for and records are kept up to date.

Section 43 Stop and search (Medium)

Data providers: MPS.

Why is the data quality assured?
The MPS use stop and search data to monitor police performance. The data is also used for other management information purposes, such as the use of police time and resources, and the effectiveness of stop and search.

The data feeds into Monthly Monitoring Reports published by the MPS.

How is the data quality assured?
Officers are required to complete an accurate record of a stop and search encounter so that they can be held to account. This process is supervised to ensure data is input accurately.

The force will dip sample the data on an ad hoc basis to check records for accuracy. The force is currently developing a more formal QA process which will examine all s.43 stops for accuracy.

Analysts QA the data and identify potential errors before data is submitted to the Home Office.

Schedule 7 (Medium)

Data providers: CTPHQ.

Why is the data quality assured?
The CTPHQ monitor the use of Schedule 7 powers to ensure resources are efficiently allocated to the areas where they are most needed. It is important this data is accurate to ensure the uses of CT powers are effective.

The use of intrusive powers, such as strip searches, biometric identifiers taken and postponement of questioning refusals must be monitored closely to ensure they are only used when absolutely necessary.

How is the data quality assured?
Data submitted by Border Policing Officers is reviewed by regional analysts on a regular basis.

Once the data is sent to the CTPHQ, analysts within the Strategy, Planning and Performance team check the data for errors (for example, missing fields, incorrect totals). Any errors are flagged and resolved with the relevant regions.

Before data is submitted to the Home Office, the CTPHQ undertake a number of consistency checks.

The CTPHQ also hold regular meetings with regions and the Border leadership team to question trends and discrepancies in the data, and to ensure compliance with the data requirements.

Once the data is sent to the Home Office, a number of checks are undertaken. These are designed to identify things such as:

• incomplete fields
• extreme values
• inconsistencies in the data
• duplicated cases
• cases that are not up to date
• incorrect values in data fields

Once issues from the initial checks have been resolved, analysis is undertaken to check for unusual or unexpected trends in the data. Where these are identified, they are flagged with data providers who may provide an explanation for the observed trend, or resubmit corrected data to the Home Office.

Limitations of the data

The limitations of each dataset are outlined below. Many of these limitations will be a by-product of the large-scale administrative processes required to collate these statistics. While the QA process is designed to minimise the scale of any data quality issues, there remain some limitations that even the most comprehensive of QA processes are unable to eliminate. The implications of the limitations are also outlined below.

Arrests and outcomes:

This data comes from a live dataset which is regularly updated. In some cases there may be a delay in a particular case being entered into the system. Therefore, at any given time, the published figures may not be 100% accurate. Most cases are entered within a few days of the arrest taking place; however, in a small number of exceptional cases (particularly fraud cases), this may take longer.

Whether an arrest is deemed to be terrorism-related or not is based upon an assessment by the CTPHQ Coordination Centre and on the information available at the time. Although the briefing notes that the assessment is based on are detailed, there is still some degree of subjectivity involved. Therefore caution should be exercised when interpreting the data.

The offence for which an individual is charged or convicted against is based on the principle offence rule. This means that when an individual is charged or convicted for multiple offences at the same time, only one offence is recorded (usually the most serious). This means the number of charges and convictions for less serious offences is likely to be undercounted to a greater extent than more serious offences. The extent of this will vary from one quarter to the next due to the variable nature of investigations from one quarter to the next. (See the Glossary of terms for more information on the principle offence rule.)

Fraud cases are often more complicated than other cases, and links to terrorism may not be immediately obvious. In such cases, the arrest may not be immediately recorded as a terrorism-related arrest. However, these arrests will eventually be picked up as more details of the cases unfold. For the small number of cases that come to light a few months after the initial arrest, figures for previous quarters will be updated to account for these changes.

Where an individual is arrested multiple times, such as for breach of bail offences, in some cases the arrest may not be recorded, and any subsequent outcome will be recorded against the initial offence.

Demographic information on persons arrested may not be completely accurate in all cases. In particular, ethnicity and nationality data may be based on the officer’s best judgement, rather than the actual ethnicity and nationality of the arrestee.

See section 8 Arrests and outcomes for more information on data quality and interpreting this data.

Court proceedings:

The offence for which an individual is prosecuted against is based on the principle offence rule. This means that when an individual is prosecuted for multiple offences at the same time, only one offence is recorded (usually the most serious). This means the number of prosecutions for less serious offences is likely to be an undercount relative to more serious offences. The figures show the number of offenders who were prosecuted and convicted, rather than the number of offences.

Prison population:

The categorisation of prisoners is based upon the definitions in Section 10 of this user guide. There are some cases where a prisoner could fit into multiple categories, or does not fit into any. Where this is the case, the categorisation is based on the best judgement of the data providers.

Offences under non-terrorism legislation may or may not be terrorism-related. Those considered terrorism-related are based on assessment by senior managers. This has a level of subjectivity to it which may vary from one assessment to the next.

The ethnicity, nationality, and religion of prisoners in this section are all self-defined characteristics. As these are defined by individual prisoners, they are based on the information given by the prisoners and are not necessarily a true reflection of that individual. For example, a prisoner may give incorrect details deliberately, or they may identity themselves differently to the way that others would.

See section 10 Terrorist prisoners for further information on data quality and interpreting this data.

Stop and search:

The ethnicity of persons stopped and searched is self-defined. As it is defined by an individual at the time of a search, it is based on the information given by the individual and is not necessarily a true reflection of that individual’s ethnicity.

There may be some cases where an officer does not record an encounter or key details of an encounter. This may lead to a slight undercounting of the number of searches, or missing details for the search (such as ethnicity).

Schedule 7:

A large number of Schedule 7 examinations take place at ports across Great Britain. When collating data on these centrally, it is likely that a number of details may be missed, or mistakenly recorded. This may lead to some discrepancies in the figures.

See section 11 Stop and Search and Schedule 7 for further information on data quality and interpreting this data.

Data quality statement

Based on the summary above, we are satisfied that the data in this release is high quality and fit for purpose. As with all large administrative datasets, there will be some inaccuracies in the data. However, we believe that the effect of these is minimal, and while they should be considered, they do not detract significantly from the quality of the data. The QA processes in place at all stages of the process further minimise the scale of any data quality issues.

Where there are known data quality issues, these are highlighted in the relevant parts of the bulletin, user guide, or accompanying data tables.

Uses of the data

The statistics produced in the series are used to monitor the use of CT powers in Great Britain throughout the criminal justice process. Specific uses of the data are listed below:

• informing the general public
  • the statistics are used by the media, which in turn informs the public about trends in CT powers (particularly arrests)
  • information on the statistics is also routinely requested by Parliamentary Questions and Freedom of Information requests
• policy making and monitoring
  • the statistics are used to monitor the performance and effectiveness of various criminal justice agencies, as well as the uses of various CT powers and legislation
  • the statistics are used to assess demand on the police and other criminal justice agencies, which feeds into projects such as resource allocation and funding work
• third parties
  • the statistics are used by a range of third parties from civil liberty groups to academics
  • independent reviewer of terrorism legislation; the statistics are used in the independent review of the operation of CT laws in the UK. These reports laid before parliament scrutinise the use of such powers, recommending change where necessary.

Related Publications

Police powers and procedures, England and Wales.

The Home Office annual statistical publication includes data on the use of stop and search by police in England and Wales only. This includes data on stop and search under section 44/47A of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Data on the use of stop and search under s.43 of the Terrorism Act 2000 is included within the ‘other’ category of searches under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE). These cannot be separately identified from searches for other reasons within the ‘other’ category.

This statistical release also includes details on the use of other police powers in England and Wales, from arrests, to the broader use of stop and search, as well as various areas of roads policing.

Police recorded security situation statistics.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) provides monthly updates on statistics such as arrests under section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent charges. The release also contains data on deaths in Northern Ireland due to security situations. This release does not include data on terrorism-related arrests under ‘other legislation’ (although these numbers are believed to be small in Northern Ireland).

Northern Ireland Terrorism Legislation.

The Northern Ireland Office produces an annual statistical report that includes data on a number of powers under terrorism legislation. This publication includes data on arrests and subsequent outcomes, as well as stop and search.

Where are the latest published figures?

Dates of future releases are pre-announced on the Statistics: release calendar on GOV.UK.

Home Office statistical releases on the Operation of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000 are available on the GOV.UK website. A brief history of the collection, with links to past releases, appears in Appendix A.

Information on how the Home Office complies with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics is also on the GOV.UK website.

Feedback and enquiries

We welcome feedback on the statistics. If you have any feedback or enquiries about this publication, please contact HSAI_Statistics@homeoffice.gov.uk.

Home Office Responsible Statistician:

Jodie Hargreaves, Head of Policing Statistics

The Operation of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent legislation statistics are Accredited Official and Official statistics. These statistics have been independently reviewed by the regulator and found to comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

2. User engagement

Consultation

In 2015 the Home Office consulted users of the statistics on a series of planned changes. This followed informal conversations with key users, the aim of which was to establish their priorities for the statistics. The consultation was done in 2 ways:

1. A user feedback survey posted on GOV.UK and available via the statistical bulletin.
2. Further conversations were held with known users of the statistics, both inside and outside the Home Office.

The second stage included conversations with the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, one of the key users of the statistics. They produce an annual report on the use of the counter-terrorism powers in the United Kingdom, which draws heavily on these statistics. These conversations, along with conversations with Home Office operations colleagues, indicated that the timeliness of the statistics was a major factor for several users.

The small number of respondents to the user feedback survey came from a number of areas, both within the Home Office, and externally (such as police forces and other government departments). The main findings from the survey are listed below:

• the most used part of the publication was the data tables
• while the reliability and QA of the statistics was seen as the most important part of the statistics, the data tables and timeliness of publishing the statistics were also seen as highly valued
• all topics within the bulletin are used by at least some users

Response to user feedback

Following user feedback, the Home Office made a number of changes to improve this release and better meet user needs. The changes included:

• making the publication more timely
  • previously data was published 6 months after the period to which it referred; the Home Office has worked with data providers to reduce this to 3 months
  • the data is still quality assured to the same high standard
• amending commentary in the quarterly publications to focus on the key points, making the release shorter and more focused; all of the data is still provided in the data tables
• amending the flow chart produced alongside the bulletin, to include only key information, and outline the process through the criminal justice system

Ongoing user engagement

In addition to the user survey, the Home Office continues to engage with users of the statistics, both internally and externally. In 2015, a consultation highlighted demand from users such as Police and Crime Commissioners, the Law Society, and Stop Watch, to increase the transparency around the use of Schedule 7 search powers by publishing additional data.

The Home Office therefore worked with data suppliers to publish data on goods examinations, strips searches and postponement of questioning refusals for the first time in December 2015. This data is now published quarterly.

Furthermore, in 2017, a change was made to the ‘prisoners’ section of the release. Following feedback from data providers at HMPPS, it was decided that prisoners categorised as ‘domestic extremist or separatist’ prisoners would be counted within the ‘TACT or TACT-related’ cohort, where the threshold for this is met. This was to remove the previous subjectivity around the categorisation of domestic extremist prisoners. Further details around the ideologies of prisoners were also include for the first time in the ‘year to June 2017’ quarterly release to provide a clearer picture of those involved in TACT and TACT related offences.

In June 2018, and in response to feedback from stakeholders, Home Office statisticians widened the scope of the data collection on terrorism arrests to include all arrests with a terrorist element, to better reflect policing activity in recent years. Data in this release had previously covered statistics on arrests where the offence was considered to be related to terrorist activity.

Data in the statistical bulletin therefore includes all arrests relating to terrorist investigations, rather than arrests for terrorism-related offences only. A back series to 2012 has been provided in the data tables to ensure comparisons can still be made over time. Therefore, data in the ‘year to March 2018’ statistical bulletin (published June 2018) onwards, and the accompanying data tables, is not comparable with previous editions of the bulletin.

Feedback is always welcome on the future direction of the statistics. Please email any feedback to HSAI_Statistics@homeoffice.gov.uk.

3. Summary of criminal justice process

Arrest
Police may arrest persons where they have a ‘reasonable suspicion’ that an offence related to terrorism has been committed, or that the person being arrested has links to terrorism. The evidence available at the time of arrest may not be sufficient to support a charge immediately; the objective of the arrest is to ascertain the facts and secure the available evidence to ensure that the detained person is either released at the earliest possible opportunity or whether a period of further detention is needed to enable the evidence to be secured.

Once the facts are established, evidence may be identified which would lead to a prosecution for an offence unrelated to terrorism. Equally, it is possible that other circumstances may be identified where alternative action is appropriate, for example, detention by immigration authorities, detention under the Mental Health Act or release on police bail.

Release or alternative action
If the case requires, alternative action may be necessary, for example, if the immigration status is in doubt persons are passed to the immigration authorities. If the evidence is not sufficient to charge, arrestees will be released.

Charge
A charge can be brought against a suspect only on the authority of the CPS. The CPS process has a unique Threshold Test for charges based on the likelihood of success in the criminal justice system (CJS).

Charges for terrorism arrests are not limited to offences under terrorism legislation. Many offences are dealt with under other legislation, for example, conspiracy to murder, and are not covered in terrorism legislation specifically.

Prosecution
People are prosecuted at court following continuous accumulation and review of evidence and are indicted according to the evidence accrued that meets the criteria of likely success in the CJS. Again, not all of those charged are prosecuted, and a Threshold Test must again be considered by the CPS for successful passage to prosecution. If this is not met a review must establish the insufficiency of current evidence to meet the threshold.

Where necessary the original charges are amended, added to or dropped altogether by the CPS at any point leading up to the trial, and even after it has begun. Therefore an individual listed under a particular offence at charge may be later listed under a different offence at the time of conviction.

The charges presented in this series are taken as those at the time of conviction. This provides a more accurate picture of the eventual offences for which persons are proceeded against.

Conviction
Convictions are carried out either by guilty plea or via trial by jury. The majority of cases will be proceeded against at the Crown Court due to the severity of the offence. Persons can be either bailed or remanded in custody until the decision to convict or acquit is reached by the jury.

Detention and or supervision
Sentencing for terrorism offences typically involves a determinate custodial sentence, but can be indeterminate, for example, an indeterminate sentence for public protection (IPP) where offenders are still deemed a threat.

4. Glossary of terms

This glossary is intended to give an overview of the terms used in the statistical release, rather than full legal descriptions. If there are terms in the terrorism statistics releases that you would like to be included in this glossary, please contact Home Office Statistics via: HSAI_Statistics@homeoffice.gov.uk. Within an explanation of a term, words in bold are explained elsewhere in the glossary.

Term: All offence basis
Description: Method of counting charges and prosecutions where a person has been charged or prosecuted for multiple offences at the same time. This method counts all offences and is an alternative to a principal offence basis where only the most serious charge or prosecution is recorded against each person.

Term: Appeal
Description: A process for requesting a formal change to an official decision made at court.

Term: Arrest
Description: This refers to the power of police officers to deprive a person of their liberty in relation to the investigation and prevention of crime. Police officers have the power to arrest anyone who has committed an offence, is about to commit an offence, or is in the act of committing an offence. They also have the power of arrest when a person is suspected of involvement in an offence.

Term: Bailed to return
Description: Where an accused person is released prior to charge or conviction pending further investigation, and is expected to return on a date set by the investigating police force.

Term: Biometric data
Description: For the purposes of this statistical publication, a biometric identifier (taken during an examination under Schedule 7) includes photographs, fingerprints and DNA samples.

Term: Caution
Description: A caution may be given by the police when there is sufficient evidence for a conviction and it is not considered to be in the public interest to instigate criminal proceedings. Offenders must admit guilt and consent to a caution in order for one to be given.

Term: Charge
Description: A formal accusation by the police that a person has committed a criminal offence.

Term: Conviction
Description: When a person is found guilty of an offence in a court.

Term: Cordon
Description: A line or circle of police officers preventing access to or from an area or building, for the purposes of public safety. For more information please see section 6 of this user guide.

Term: Custodial sentence
Description: A sentence handed down by the courts consisting of compulsory detention of a convicted person, either in prison or in some other closed therapeutic or educational institution. Imprisonment is the most severe sentence available to the courts in Great Britain. Custodial sentences are reserved for the most serious offences and are imposed when the offence committed is so serious that neither a fine nor a community sentence can be justified for the offence, or for the purposes of public protection.

Term: Defendant
Description: Any person accused of an offence under criminal law.

Term: Delayed access to a solicitor
Description: When a police officer of at least the rank of superintendent authorises a delay in permitting a detained person to consult a solicitor. A delay may only be authorised where the superintendent has reasonable grounds for believing that: allowing the detained person to exercise this right will result in any of the consequences listed in Schedule 8 paragraph 8(4) (that is, interference with evidence, physical injury to a person, alerting a person suspected of committing a serious offence, hindering the recovery of property, for example); or the detained person has benefitted from their criminal conduct and the recovery of those benefits will be hindered by permitting them to consult a solicitor.

Term: Ethnic appearance
Description: Ethnicity classification based upon the observation of a person by a police officer at the time of arrest, charge or stop and search.

Term: Extremism
Description: The HMG Prevent Strategy defines extremism as “vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs. We also include in our definition of extremism calls for the death of members of our armed forces, whether in this country or overseas.”

Term: Extreme Right-wing
Description: This refers to individuals from politically extreme right-wing proscribed groups such as National Action which became the first extreme right-wing group to be proscribed as a terrorist organisation in December 2016. The group demonstrates racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic views. The group condones and glorifies those who have used extreme violence for political or ideological ends such as supporting the murder of Jo Cox.

Term: Financial year
Description: 12 months ending 31 March.

Term: Goods examination
Description: Refers to the examination of air or sea freight under Schedule 7 to the Terrorism Act 2000.

Term: Great Britain
Description: Refers to England, Wales, and Scotland. Excludes Northern Ireland and UK Channel Islands.

Term: Hospital order
Description: Referral for medical treatment in a closed hospital made by the courts, instead of a prison sentence. Hospital orders may be given on conviction for any offence that carries a custodial sentence with the exception of murder. Issuing a hospital order is entirely a decision for the court, acting on the medical evidence.

Term: Ideology
Description: The HMG Prevent Strategy defines as ideology as a set of beliefs. An ideologue is a proponent as well as an adherent of an ideology.

Term: International terrorism
Description: Refers to activity by an individual or a group of individuals (regardless of nationality) linked to or motivated by any terrorist group that is based outside the UK which operates in and from third countries (other than Northern Ireland).

Term: Intra-UK examination
Description: When a person has been examined at a UK port either before or after a journey between one UK port and another UK port. This includes journeys between or within England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Term: Life sentence
Description: A sentence which lasts for the rest of a person’s life, although in most cases a prisoner will be eligible for early release after a fixed minimum term set by the judge. If they are released from prison and commit another crime they can be sent back to prison at any time.

Term: Minimum term
Description: The minimum period of time in custody that a person given a life sentence has to serve before they are eligible for early release.

Term: Nationality
Description: The status of belonging to a particular country or nation.

Term: Non-criminal prisoner
Description: Persons held in prison custody under immigration powers or for a civil offence, for example, contempt of court.

Term: Northern Ireland-related terrorism
Description: Refers to activity by an individual or a group of individuals (regardless of nationality) linked to or motivated by any terrorist group that is based outside the UK, operating in and from Northern Ireland.

Term: Offender
Description: A person convicted or cautioned for breaking the law.

Term: PACE
Description: Refers to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, which instituted a legislative framework for the powers of police officers in England and Wales to combat crime, as well as providing codes of practice for the exercise of those powers.

Term: Pending
Description: Information on the outcome following arrest is not yet available. This is often the case when the suspects are still in custody or have been recently released from custody and the CTPHQ database hasn’t been updated yet with their outcome.

Term: Postal charge requisition
Description: Postal requisitioning may be used to completely replace the summons process, ending the requirement to lay information before the court to issue a summons. Postal charging replaces the charging process in appropriate cases, such as, where the person is released on unconditional police bail awaiting a charging decision.

Term: Principle offence basis
Description: When a person is charged or prosecuted for multiple offences at the same time, this method counts only the most serious offence, known as the principal offence. This differs from an all offence basis which counts all offences when they occur at the same time. The principle offence rule is in place to ensure the statistics count the number of individuals who were charged or prosecuted, rather than the total number of charges or prosecutions.

Term: Proscribed organisations
Description: Organisation banned under UK law by the Home Secretary if it is believed to be participating, promoting or encouraging terrorism.

Term: Prosecution or court proceeding
Description: The bringing of legal action against a person in respect of a criminal charge.

Term: Refusal to postpone questioning
Description: When an examining officer continues to question a detained person instead of postponing the questioning to allow the person to consult with a solicitor. This may be done if the examining officer reasonably believes that postponing questioning until the person has consulted a solicitor would be likely to prejudice the Schedule 7 determination.

Term: Required to consult a solicitor by phone
Description: When an examining officer requires a detained person to consult a solicitor by telephone, rather than in person. This may be done if the examining officer reasonably believes that the time it would take to allow a consultation in person would be likely to prejudice the Schedule 7 determination.

Term: Required to consult within sight and hearing of a qualified officer
Description: When a police officer of at least the rank of Commander or Assistant Chief Constable directs that a detained person who wishes to exercise the right to consult a solicitor may only do so in the sight and hearing of another officer, of at least the rank of inspector and has no connection with the detained person’s case. A direction may only be given if the officer giving it has reasonable grounds for believing that allowing the detained person to consult the solicitor in private will have any of the consequences listed in Schedule 8 paragraph 8(4) (that is, interference with evidence, physical injury to a person, alerting a person suspected of committing a serious offence, hindering the recovery of property, for example).

Term: Self-defined ethnicity
Description: Ethnicity classification declared by an individual or suspect who is subject to arrest, or stop and search, at the time of arrest or stop and search. This system comprises 16 distinct ethnic categories (plus a ‘Not stated’ category). Further details can be found in section 10 of this user guide.

Term: Stop and search
Description: Statutory powers exist under PACE, for a police officer to search a person or vehicle without first making an arrest. Other police powers not under PACE include stops and searches in anticipation of violence (under section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994) and searches of pedestrians, vehicles and occupants (under s.47A – formally s.44 – of the Terrorism Act 2000). Searches for drugs are still permitted by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and for firearms under the Firearms Act 1968.

Term: Strip search
Description: A search involving the removal of more than outer clothing. It does not extend to requiring a person to undergo an intimate search (searching a person’s body orifices other than the mouth).

Term: Summons
Description: A summons secures the appearance of a defendant before a magistrates’ court. The police provide information or a prosecutor presents information which alleges a crime before a magistrate, resulting in a summons being issued.

Term: TACT
Description: Refers to any offence or process under the Terrorism Acts 2000 or 2006.

Term: Terrorism
Description: The use or threat of action designed to influence the government or an international governmental organisation, or to intimidate the public or a section of the public, made for the purposes of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause.

Term: Terrorism legislation
Description: ‘Terrorist connected’ is a statutory sentencing aggravating factor which permits courts to impose a terrorism connection ‘label’ to offenders who committed a non-terrorist offence that had or may have had a terrorist connection. The terrorism connected label was introduced by the Counter Terrorism Act 2008 (CTA), and so is applicable for all cases that ended after the date of its commencement (18 June 2009).

Term: Terrorism legislation
Description: In these releases, this term refers to any offence or process under any one of the following Acts: the Terrorism Acts 2000 and 2006, the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005, and the Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act 2011.

Term: Terrorism prevention and investigation measures (TPIM)
Description: Measures imposed by the Secretary of State to restrict the movements of suspected terrorists where there is insufficient evidence to charge or prosecute them.

Term: Terrorism-related arrest
Description: An arrest is considered to be ‘terrorism-related’ when, at the time of arrest or during the course of the subsequent investigation, a police officer suspects a person of being involved with terrorism. For more information please see section 7 of this user guide.

Term: Terrorism-related offence
Description: Includes offences under terrorism legislation and other offences considered to be terrorism-related.

Term: Third country
Description: A country of which a person is not a national or citizen and in which a person’s life or liberty is not threatened by reason of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.

Term: Trial
Description: A formal examination of evidence by a judge, typically before a jury, in order to decide guilt in a case of criminal or civil proceedings.

Term: Vehicle-only searches
Description: Searches of unattended vehicles conducted by the police.

5. Conventions and revisions

Rounding

Data is provided unrounded in the data tables of the terrorism statistics releases. This is to promote transparency and allow users to exploit the data further.

Percentages, percentage changes and proportions presented in the releases are rounded to the nearest per cent using the ‘round half away from zero’ method. Therefore, in the borderline case where the fraction of the percentage is exactly 0.5, the rounded figure is equal to ‘y + 0.5’ if ‘y’ is positive, and ‘y - 0.5’ if ‘y’ is negative. For example, 23.5% is rounded to 24%, and -23.5% is rounded to -24%. When rounding whole numbers the result is similar; for example, when rounding to the nearest 100, 1,250 would be reported as 1,300.

Where data is rounded, it may not sum to the totals shown, or, in the case of percentages, to 100%, because it has been rounded independently.

Small numbers

Due to the relatively small numbers of persons arrested each year for terrorism-related offences, releases in this series contain a number of trends which are based on base numbers fewer than 50. In general, trends based on these small numbers are expressed in numerical terms only in these releases, because expressing these in terms of percentage changes may be misleading.

Use of symbols

The following symbols have been used in the tables:

• - Nil
• .. Not available
• * Not applicable, for percentage changes where the base number is fewer than 50, the amount is not reported

Revisions

The presented figures are correct at the time of publication and may include revisions for the periods covered by, and received since, the publication of the previous edition in the series.

Data may be revised for various reasons. For example, data on arrests and outcomes presented in this release is based on the latest position with each case as at the date of data provision to the Home Office. Since some arrests can take a number of months to progress from arrest to charge and subsequently conviction, data will be updated as cases progress through the criminal justice system. Additionally, data providers regularly review their systems to ensure that records are up to date, which can result in records being added, removed or reclassified. Substantial revisions to figures presented in earlier editions of ‘Operation of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent legislation’, should they occur, are described in the ‘Revisions analysis’ section in each release.

Corrections and revisions follow the Home Office corporate revisions policy, as detailed on page 6 of its statement of compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

6. Legislation

This release includes data on charges and convictions under both terrorism and non-terrorism legislation. Detailed information on the legislation covered in this release can be found on the UK legislation website. Details on the powers under the Terrorism Act (TACT) 2000 and subsequent legislation are outlined below.

Cordons under section 33 of TACT

Section 33 of TACT gives police officers the power to cordon an area if they consider it expedient to do so for the purposes of a terrorist investigation. Cordons are typically set up to investigate a suspect package, or to deal with the consequences of an explosion or series of arrests.

Stop and search under section 43 of TACT

Section 43 of TACT is available to police for stopping and searching persons whom they reasonably suspect are involved in terrorism-related activity.

Stop and search under sections 44 and 47A of TACT

Searches under section 44 of TACT applied to situations where police required the power to stop and search persons for involvement in terrorism-related activity where there was no suspicion of involvement.

As a result of a legal challenge made by the European Court of Human Rights, and as a part of the UK government’s commitment to introduce safeguards against the misuse of powers under TACT, the Home Secretary conducted a review of these powers, the findings of which were announced on 11 January 2011.

One of the recommendations of the review was that stop and search powers under s.44 of TACT should be repealed and replaced with a much more targeted and proportionate power. The Home Secretary therefore made a remedial order under section 10 of the Human Rights Act 1998 to make immediate changes to the legislation. This new power came into force on 18 March 2011. Section 47A of TACT allows the police to stop and search persons in order to prevent acts of terrorism, without reasonable suspicion of their involvement in terrorism. Searches under this power may only be authorised in a specific area for a defined period where the police reasonably suspect an act of terrorism will take place.

Examinations under schedule 7 to TACT

Under Schedule 7 to TACT individual examining officers at port areas can examine a person who is entering or leaving, or travelling by aircraft within Great Britain to find out whether they are or have been involved in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism. Depending on individual circumstances, an examination may consist of basic questioning, a search of property or a period of detention of up to 6 hours while investigations take place. In August 2014, the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 came into effect. This amended the powers under Schedule 7 to Terrorism Act 2000 to ensure that a mandatory detention takes place where an examination lasts for longer than one hour.

7. Data providers for this release

Counter Terrorism Policing Headquarters (CTPHQ) Coordination Centre

CTPHQ Coordination Centre collects data covering all terrorism arrests in Great Britain (that is, excluding Northern Ireland) through to their subsequent outcome at the point of charge and prosecution. This information relates to data collected from 11 September 2001; although the total number of arrests between February 2001 and 11 September 2001 are known, no further breakdown is possible.

For each quarterly edition of the ‘Operation of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent legislation’ statistical series, a partial data snapshot of the CTPHQ Coordination Centre’s live database is provided to the Home Office, based on a person’s principal charge. It is not unusual for charges to be amended or added during police investigations or criminal trials. As a result, all figures in an edition are subject to change in future ones and are correct at the time of data provision.

Cordons data is supplied to the Home Office by CTPHQ Coordination Centre on an annual basis only. Between 2010 and 2020, cordons data was supplied on a financial year basis in the ‘year ending March…’ editions of this publication. Following engagement with stakeholders, this has been changed to a calendar year basis from the year ending December 2020 statistics onwards.

Data on Schedule 7 examinations is provided to the Home Office on a quarterly basis by the Strategy, Planning and Performance Unit within the Counter Terrorism Policing Headquarters (CTPHQ).

Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)

The CPS’s Counter Terrorism Division holds information on all trials of terrorism-related defendants, including sentences and appeals. They regularly share information with the CTPHQ Coordination Centre to validate data.

HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS)

HMPPS maintains a list of persons in prison custody (for terrorism-related offences) in England and Wales, including persons held on remand or as convicted prisoners, and those subject to extradition orders or held under immigration powers. The list includes those who entered prison before 11 September 2001 and who are excluded from the data collected by the CTPHQ Coordination Centre. Data is quality assured by the MoJ before being supplied to the Home Office.

Data covering the England and Wales prison population is supplied by HMPPS to the MoJ for publication in its quarterly statistical release Offender Management Statistics.

Scottish Prison Service (SPS)

The SPS provides information on known terrorists held as remand or convicted prisoners in Scotland.

Police forces

Data published in this release on stop and search under s.47A (and, previously, s.44) of TACT is provided to the Home Office by individual police forces as a part of formal statistical returns.

Data on s.43 searches included in the release covers the MPS only. Following a change made to the Police Powers and Procedures statistical collection, this data will be available for all police force areas from October 2021. The latest data for all police force areas will be included in the latest release for the Police powers and procedures statistical collection. Persons stopped and searched are asked to self-define their own ethnicity using the 2001 census categories (see section 11 of this user guide).

Additional information on the use of stop and search powers by police in England and Wales is published in the annual Home Office Police Powers and Procedures publication.

8. Arrests and outcomes

Terrorism-related arrests

An arrest is considered to be terrorism-related when, at the time of arrest, or during the course of the subsequent investigation, a police officer suspects a person of being involved with terrorism.

When there is immediate suspicion of involvement with a terrorism-related activity, the police have the option of arresting a person under Section 41 of TACT 2000. These powers are similar to standard powers of arrest given by PACE; however, s.41 of TACT allows for the detention of persons for an extended period before release. PACE is not applicable in Scotland; many of its police powers are based on common law.

Not all persons suspected of terrorism-related offences are initially arrested under s.41 of TACT, since a link to terrorism is not always evident at the time of arrest. As a result, both terrorism-related arrests made under s.41 of TACT and those made under PACE legislation (or Scottish common law) are included in this release.

Changes to the ‘arrests and outcomes’ data collection

Data in the ‘arrests and outcomes’ section have previously covered statistics on arrests where the offence is considered to be related to terrorist activity. Prior to the June 2018 publication (covering the period to 31 March 2018), data in this release was restricted to arrests where the offence was considered to be related to terrorism. In response to feedback from stakeholders, Home Office statisticians have now widened the scope of the data collection on terrorism arrests to include all arrests with a terrorist element whether the offence was terrorism related or not. This better reflects policing activity in recent years. Data now contains information on all arrests related to terrorism activity, including a full back series to September 2001.

Data in the statistical bulletin therefore includes all arrests relating to terrorist investigations, rather than arrests for terrorism-related offences only. A back series to 2012 has been provided in the data tables to ensure comparisons can still be made over time. Therefore, data in the ‘year to March 2018’ statistical bulletin onwards, and the accompanying data tables, is not comparable with previous editions of the bulletin.

From the year ending September 2019 publication onwards, a small number of postal charge requisitions and summonses have been included as part of the arrests figures. This decision was taken following engagement with stakeholders and CTPHQ, as the postal charge requisitions and summonses can lead to terrorism-related charges and convictions. A full back series has been provided in the data tables to ensure comparisons can still be made over time.

Data in the statistical bulletin also reports the number of warrants of further detention under Schedule 8 of TACT 2000. From the year ending June 2023 publication onwards, due to updates to the live system where the Schedule 8 data is stored, CTPHQ have noted that there may be slight changes/updates to the numbers provided in previous quarters’ published tables

Pre-charge detention under section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000

Under section 41 of TACT, police officers have the power to arrest persons suspected of terrorism-related offences without a warrant. These arrest powers also allow the extended detention of persons beyond the maximum 4 days available under standard arrest powers.

A police officer of at least the rank of superintendent may apply to the court for a warrant of further detention in respect of an arrest under Section 41. Applications may also be made by relevant prosecuting authorities. As a general rule, such an application must be made within 48 hours of the individual being arrested or detained. A warrant issued by the court may authorise the detention of the individual for a specified period of time, with the maximum detention period permitted by a single warrant being 7 days. When further detention beyond this is necessary, additional applications can be made to the court for an extension.

The maximum period of detention allowed under s.41 has varied. From the commencement of the legislation on 19 February 2001, the maximum period of pre-charge detention was 7 days. From 20 January 2004 the limit was extended to 14 days, and from 25 July 2006 the maximum period was extended further to 28 days. Since 25 January 2011, it has reverted to a maximum of 14 days.

Charges resulting from terrorism-related arrests

Terrorism-related arrests can result in charges for any criminal offence, not just those covered by terrorism legislation. Unless otherwise specified, all data described in this release as being ‘terrorism-related’ refers collectively to:

• offences under terrorism legislation
• the failure to comply at border controls under Schedule 7 to TACT
• non-terrorism legislation offences, although the offence, or the person being arrests, is considered to be terrorism-related (for example, offences under the Explosive Substances Act 1883)

Outcomes at court

Not all charges for terrorism-related offences result in convictions for terrorism-related offences. In some instances a person arrested for a terrorism-related offence may be charged for a non-terrorism-related offence (for example when, after investigation, there is no evidence of a link to terrorism but another offence has been committed). All resultant convictions (whether terrorism-related or non-terrorism-related) are presented in the tables.

Categorisations of terrorism-related suspects

Categories presented in this section are based on whether an individual is found to have involvement with any type of terrorism at the time of arrest or during the subsequent investigation. These are based on assessment by CTPHQ Coordination Centre and may not be mutually exclusive in all cases. Additionally, the categories may change as further information on each case comes to light as they progress. The categories are:

• international – refers to activity by an individual or a group of individuals (regardless of nationality) linked to or motivated by any terrorist group based outside the UK that operates in and from third countries
• Northern Ireland-related – refers to activity by an individual or a group of individuals supporting the actions or ideology of a proscribed Northern Ireland-related terrorist group
• domestic – Refers to terrorism-related activity where there are no links to either Northern Ireland-related or international terrorism
• not classified – Refers to persons currently considered to have no links to any domestic, international or Northern Ireland-related terrorism; for example, members of the public who are arrested for failure to comply with border controls under Schedule 7 who do not have any terrorist links

Data quality and interpreting the figures

The relatively small numbers of persons arrested for terrorism-related activity each year mean that proportionally large fluctuations in arrests can result from particular police operations, or individual cases involving multiple suspects. This should be borne in mind when interpreting trends over time.

In line with the normal procedures for criminal justice statistics, and in order to present an accurate count of the number of persons arrested and charged, data on arrests, outcomes and court proceedings is presented on a principal offence basis. This means when a person is arrested, charged, or prosecuted for multiple offences at the same time, the most serious offence is the one counted in this data. If a person is subsequently arrested on another occasion for a different offence, the additional arrest will also be counted separately in the data.

Due to the complex nature of terrorism investigations, court proceedings may take place several months or even years after an arrest or charge takes place. All data in the arrests and outcomes section is based on the time of arrest. If an individual is arrested in 2016 to 2017, but subsequently charged or convicted in 2017 to 2018, the arrest, charge and conviction will be recorded as 2016 to 2017 (time of arrest). This differs from the data in the court proceedings section, which is based on the time of case completion.

Data in this section is taken from a live database and is subject to change. As time progresses, incomplete cases will be updated, and the number of charges, convictions and releases may increase in a given quarter from one publication to the next. Specifically, more recent quarters are likely to see more cases where individuals are ‘released on bail’ (which will later become ‘charged’, ‘released without charge’, or ‘alternative action’) and ‘awaiting prosecution’ (which will later become ‘convicted’ or ‘acquitted’).

Nationalities of persons arrested for terrorism-related activity presented in the arrests and outcomes section are self-declared, therefore they may differ from the actual nationalities of persons arrested; this must be borne in mind when interpreting the figures.

9. Court proceedings

Changes to the ‘Court proceedings’ data collection

The September 2024 publication excludes the breakdown of data concerning the sentence lengths for defendants tried and convicted by the Crown Prosecution Service for terrorism-related offences as this data is not currently available. Home Office analysts are working with information asset owners to continue this time series in future publications.

10. Terrorist prisoners

From September 2020 onwards, the Ministry of Justice and Home Office have formally adopted the definition ‘Terrorism-Connected Offender’. ‘Terrorist connected’ is a statutory sentencing aggravating factor which permits courts to impose a terrorism connection ‘label’ to offenders who committed a non-terrorist offence that had or may have had a terrorist connection. The terrorism connected label was introduced by the Counter Terrorism Act 2008 (CTA), and so is applicable for all cases that ended after the date of its commencement (18 June 2009). This definition replaces the previously used definition ‘Terrorism-Related Offender’ which will no longer be used for the purposes of publishing official statistics for terrorist prisoners. For this reason, figures for September 2020 onwards are not directly comparable with previous years or quarters.

This definition changes is in alignment with Part 2 of Schedule 19ZA of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (as inserted by the Terrorist Offenders (Restriction of Early Release) Act 2020), which concerns those offenders who have not committed terrorist offences (that is, those listed in Part 1 of the Schedule) but who have committed other specified offences which the court has determined have a ‘terrorist connection’. That determination may only be made by the sentencing court in accordance with Part 3 of the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 and only after consideration of the requirements specified in that Act. If the court determines that the offence has a terrorist connection it must treat that fact as a statutory aggravating factor and state in open court that the offence was so aggravated.

Previously, the Home Office published figures on both terrorist prisoners and domestic extremist or separatist prisoners (see below for definitions). However, following feedback from data providers at HMPPS, it was decided that prisoners categorised as ‘domestic extremist or separatist’ prisoners would be counted within the ‘TACT or TACT-related’ cohort, where the threshold for this is met. This was to remove the previous subjectivity around the categorisation of domestic extremist prisoners. Further details around the ideologies of prisoners were also include for the first time in the ‘year to June 2017’ quarterly release to provide a clearer picture of those involved in TACT and TACT related offences.

Definition of prisoner types

Terrorism Act (TACT) Offender An individual charged with or convicted of an offence under the Terrorism Acts.

Terrorism-connected (TACT-connected) ‘Terrorist connected’ is a statutory sentencing aggravating factor which permits courts to impose a terrorism connection ‘label’ to offenders who committed a non-terrorist offence that had or may have had a terrorist connection. The terrorism connected label was introduced by the Counter Terrorism Act 2008 (CTA), and so is applicable for all cases that ended after the date of its commencement (18 June 2009).

Terrorism legislation or terrorism-related
This refers to individuals convicted and sentenced to custody for offences under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent legislation. This also includes individuals convicted and sentenced to custody for terrorism-related offences under other legislation. The latter includes prisoners who may be linked to, or co-defendants of, prisoners who are charged with a terrorist offence but they themselves are charged with a criminal offence such as providing false documentation, possession of firearms or other offences.

TACT-related This refers to prisoners who have been convicted or charged for offences which the court has determined have a terrorism or extremism connection. An example of this would be the extremist motivated murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby, where the defendants were charged and convicted of murder. TACT-related also includes prisoners who may be linked to, or co-defendants of, prisoners who are charged with a Terrorist offence but they themselves are charged with another criminal offence.

This means that a small number of prisoners previously listed in the ‘domestic extremist or separatist’ group are no longer counted, as they do not meet the threshold for TACT or TACT-related offences as defined above (for example, those in custody for violent disorder).

Domestic extremists or separatist
These are defined as individuals who belong to groups or causes that originate in the United Kingdom (although they may have international links) and are often associated with ‘single issue’ protestors who seek to further their cause through the committing of criminal offences. Some of these cases may not require the involvement of police CT resources but may involve other specialist criminal justice resources. There is a wide spectrum of domestic extremist or separatist causes including extreme left- and right-wing groups, animal rights extremists and domestic (sometimes called ‘lone wolf’) attackers. Of those held in prison custody, the majority belong to extremist animal rights groups, or are members or associates of Extreme Right-wing groups.

Historical terrorist cases
These individuals’ court cases pre-date the introduction of the Terrorism Acts. They were imprisoned pre-2001 following a terrorist investigation, acts of terrorism, or for membership of a proscribed terrorist organisation. They include convicted terrorists from the 1970s to 1990s for a range of offences and who remained in prison custody on 31 March 2008. They include members of groups such as the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) and domestic bombers. It should be noted that a number of convicted terrorists, particularly Irish Republican and Loyalist paramilitaries, have been released either through completion of sentence or under the terms of the Belfast Agreement of 1998. These cases are not included in these figures.

From the ‘year to June 2017’ quarterly update (published in September 2017), prisoners categorised as ‘domestic extremist or separatist’ will no longer be included in the release, unless they meet the threshold for the ‘TACT or TACT-related’ cohort, as defined below:

Prisoner ideologies

Under the Terrorism Act 2000, the Home Secretary may proscribe an organisation if they believe it is concerned in terrorism, and it is proportionate to do so. A full list can be found at Proscribed terrorist groups or organisations.

The ‘year to June 2017’ publication and onwards of this release will feature the ‘ideology’ of terrorist prisoners.

Definition of prisoner ideologies

Islamist extremist
This refers to individuals from Islamic proscribed groups who advocate, justify or glorify acts of violence (especially against civilians) or other illegal conduct to achieve fundamental changes to society. For example, forcing the implementation of their so-called ‘Caliphate’, or vigilante action against those they regard as enemies of their extreme version of Islam.

Extreme right-wing
This refers to individuals from politically extreme right-wing proscribed groups such as National Action which became the first extreme right-wing group to be proscribed as a terrorist organisation in December 2016. The group demonstrates racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic views. The group condones and glorifies those who have used extreme violence for political or ideological ends such as supporting the murder of Jo Cox.

Other
This refers to individuals from proscribed groups not categorised as ‘Islamist extremist’ or ‘Extreme right-wing’. For example, this includes Northern-Ireland related groups such as the Ulster Volunteers Force (UVF). Although the UVF officially ended its campaign in 2007, some of its members have continued to engage in violence and criminal activities. This category also includes cases whereby the individual’s proscribed terrorist group is unclear meaning their ideological link is not known.

Definition of types of prisoner release

Discharged – released from prison custody into the community in Great Britain on completion of a custodial sentence, including those released on licence for supervision by the Probation Service.

Repatriated – the removal of a person in custody from Great Britain to their country of origin, which does not have to be enforced.

Deported – the enforced removal of a person in custody from Great Britain to another country, which does not have to be the country of origin of the suspect.

Border Force bail – individuals released from detention in HMPPS or Border Force custodial sites on licence issued by Border Force.

Extradition cases – individuals held under Home Office powers awaiting extradition to another country or jurisdiction on the authority of an international jurisdiction.

Hospital transfers – those individuals transferred from prison to a secure hospital under the Mental Health Act for treatment; individuals may be transferred back to prison, discharged on completion of their custodial sentence, or continue to be held under Mental Health Act powers following completion of their sentence, while remaining eligible for release on the authority of a Mental Health Review Tribunal.

Other – includes persons released after being acquitted, found not guilty or discharged as a result of an appeal or if a case is withdrawn by the prosecution.

Self-declared religions of prisoners

Religions presented in this release are based upon those which prisoners self-declare on admission to prison custody. The categories (in bold) below are the ones presented in the terrorist and extremist prisoners section of this release, and are used by the MoJ when classifying prisoners’ religions in its Offender Management Statistics releases; the individual religions from within each category are shown below.

Term: Anglican
Description: Anglican, Church of England, Church of Wales, Church of Ireland, Episcopalian.

Term: Free Church
Description: Baptist, Celestial Church of God, Church of Scotland, Congregational, Methodist, Non-conformist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Quaker, Salvation Army, United Reformed Church, Welsh Independent.

Term: Other Christian
Description: Calvinist, Christadelphian, Christian Scientist, Church of Sweden, Coptic, Dutch Reform Church, Ethiopian Orthodox, Evangelist, Greek or Russian Orthodox, Jehovah’s Witness, Mormon, Protestant, Seventh Day Adventist, Other Christian Groups, Christian, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Eastern Orthodox.

Term: Roman Catholic

Term: Buddhist

Term: Hindu

Term: Jewish

Term: Muslim

Term: Sikh

Term: Other religious groups
Description: Ba Hai, Druid, Jain, Pagan, Spiritualist, Taoist, Rastafarian, Zoroastrian, Other non-Christian.

Term: Other non-recognised religion groups
Description: Black Muslim, Nation of Islam, Scientology, Other non-recognised religion.

Term: No religion
Description: Agnostic, Atheist, No religion.

Data quality and interpreting the figures

Data presented on terrorist prisoners includes persons held on remand as well as those held after conviction or sentencing.

The ideology of a prisoner is determined by the information provided by the investigating force relating to the offence in question.

Self-declared religion is given by prisoners on entry to prison. Some prisoners may subsequently change religion. These changes will not be accounted for in the figures. As with all self-declared characteristics, self-declared religion, self-declared ethnicity and self-declared nationality assume that the prisoner has given the correct details. This may not always be the case.

Due to the relatively small numbers of persons in custody for terrorism-related offences, caution is needed when examining the ethnic breakdown of those in custody. Small changes in the number of persons belonging to each ethnic group can lead to large percentage changes.

11. Stop and search and Schedule 7

More detailed information about the legislation outlined below is included in section 6 of this user guide.

Section 33 of TACT 2000

Police forces’ area breakdowns of the number of cordons set up by police in Great Britain under s.33 of TACT 2000 are included only within the ‘annual’ edition of this series. Between 2010 and 2020, cordons data was supplied on a financial year basis in the ‘year ending March…’ editions of this publication. Following engagement with stakeholders, this has been changed to a calendar year basis from the year ending December 2020 statistics onwards.

Section 43 of TACT 2000

Data presented in the quarterly release is restricted to those conducted by the MPS, and this includes a breakdown by self-defined ethnicity and the numbers of resultant arrests are included. Vehicle-only searches are excluded.

Section 47A of TACT 2000

Data on s.47a stop and search is provided to the Home Office by police forces. Following the Parsons Green attack, on 15 September 2017, the police used the power of stop and search under s.47a of TACT 2000 (previously s.44) for the first time. This power allows the police to exercise stop and searches when there is reasonable suspicion an act of terrorism will take place, and only when such powers are considered necessary to prevent such an act taking place. This must be authorised by a senior officer, at least the rank of Assistant Chief Constable, and the area and duration of the authorisation must be no greater than is necessary to prevent such an act. Data for England and Wales on stop and search under s.44 and 47A of TACT 2000 is also published in the Home Office annual publication Police powers and procedures.

Schedule 7 to TACT 2000

Data on the number of examinations conducted in Great Britain, and resultant detentions, is presented on a quarterly basis. Breakdowns by self-defined ethnicity (see ‘Ethnicity of persons searched’ in this chapter) have been available from the CTPHQ since the 2010 to 2011 financial year.

From April 2015, the CTPHQ started collecting additional data on Schedule 7 to TACT 2000. This includes data on the number of strip searches and the number of times postponement of questioning was refused by the examining officer, as well as accurate breakdowns of goods examinations by type of freight (air and sea).

From September 2021, following a recommendation made by the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, data on the number of persons where one or more biometric identifier was taken during an examination made under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 is now also presented on a quarterly basis.

Goods examinations

Goods are defined non-exhaustively under paragraph 9 of Schedule 7 as ‘property of any description, and containers’. The Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 clarified the legal position around the examination of goods in remote storage outside the immediate boundary of a port and the examination of goods comprising items of post. A goods examination under Schedule 7 may only be carried out by a trained, accredited and designated examining officer. An examining officer may only examine goods for the purpose of determining whether they have been used in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.

Strip searches

A strip search is a search involving the removal of more than outer clothing. Strip searches do not extend to requiring a person to undergo an intimate search (searching a person’s body orifices other than the mouth). A strip search may only take place where an examining officer has reasonable grounds to suspect that a person has concealed something which may be evidence that the person appears to be or to have been concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism. The search must be authorised by an officer of at least one rank higher than the examining officer and who has not been directly involved in the questioning of the person. Strip searches can only be conducted when a person has been detained. The Schedule 7 Code of Practice sets out the procedures an examining officer must follow when conducting a strip search.

Postponement of questioning refusals

A person being examined under Schedule 7 is able to request that their examination be postponed in order for them to be able to consult with a solicitor. If reasonably practicable, an examining officer must allow this. However, a request for postponement may be refused if the examining officer considers that postponing the questioning would prejudice the purpose of the examination.

Examinations under Schedule 7 to TACT 2000

Under Schedule 7 to TACT, individual examining officers can examine a person at a port area when they are entering or leaving, or travelling by aircraft within Great Britain. Depending on individual circumstances, an examination may consist of basic questioning, a search of property and or a period of detention of up to 6 hours while investigations take place.

If a person fails to comply with a Schedule 7 examination (but is not found to have committed a more serious offence at the time of the examination) they may be charged under Schedule 7 for failure to comply with the examination; data on these charges is presented in this release.

It should be noted, however, that a Schedule 7 charge may result in a conviction for a different offence or, conversely, a charge for a more serious offence under terrorism legislation may occasionally result in a conviction under Schedule 7 if an examination took place at the time of charge, and all of the other charges are dropped. As a result, the total Schedule 7 convictions shown in this release may not have resulted directly from a Schedule 7 charge, and vice versa.

In August 2014, the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 came into effect. This amended the powers under Schedule 7 to the Terrorism Act 2000 to ensure that a mandatory detention takes place where an examination lasts for longer than one hour.

Biometric identifiers taken

Fingerprints, photographs and non-intimate DNA samples can be taken from a person who has been formally detained for examination under Schedule 7, using powers contained in Schedule 8 to the Terrorism Act 2000. This information is taken by officers to further enable a determination as to whether a person is or has been involved in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.

Ethnicity of persons searched

Self-defined ethnicity data in the stop and search section are based upon the 16 distinct ethnic categories (plus a ‘Not stated’ category) used during the 2001 census.

Changes to the ‘other police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000’ data collection

Data in the statistical bulletin reports the use of power Schedule 7 to TACT 2000 in Great Britain. For the year ending June 2023 publication, owing to a review by CTPHQ, figures for the number of individuals with delayed access to a solicitor from specific previous quarters have been amended. These revisions date back to April 2022 and are reflected in the data tables.

Data quality and interpreting the figures

Ethnicities of search recipients reported under s.43 and 47A and Schedule 7 are self-defined, and therefore may differ from the actual ethnicities of persons searched in a small number of cases. For example, the persons stopped and searched may give a false ethnicity at the time of the search.

The use of stop and search practices are regularly reviewed by the Home Office, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, and other policing-related bodies, to ensure the practices are used fairly and proportionally. Such reviews can affect the way in which police officers enforce stop and search powers, which will in turn have an impact on the figures in this section of the publication.

Due to the relatively small number of persons stopped and searched by the MPS under s.43 of TACT 2000, caution is needed when examining the ethnic breakdown of those arrested as a result of such stops and searches. Small changes in the number of persons belonging to each ethnic group can lead to large percentage changes.

Appendix A: A brief history of the Home Office’s compilation of statistics on the operation of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000

Statistics on the operation of terrorism legislation have been collected and published by the Home Office since the 1970s. The initial legislation was the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1974, which gave the police new arrest and detention powers to deal with terrorism suspects. This was updated by the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1976 and the Prevention of Terrorism (Supplemental Temporary Provisions) Amendment Order 1979, which created specific offences of terrorism and modified the detention powers.

Statistics covering Great Britain (but not Northern Ireland) were collected by the Home Office to monitor the implementation of the detention powers under this legislation. By 1979 (the earliest record), the Home Office was publishing quarterly statistical bulletins containing commentary and tables on applications made to extend the period of detention; persons charged under the Acts; persons charged with other offences following detention; and persons detained but not charged or excluded from the country. The tables provide a time series from 1974, the commencement of the legislation.

See the Statistics on the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Acts 1974 and 1976 bulletins.

During the 1980s further legislation provided more modifications, and the quarterly bulletin reflected this by adding comparisons between Northern Ireland-related and international terrorism, and persons excluded from the country.

In 1992, the Statistics on the Operation of Prevention of Terrorism Legislation bulletin became annual, with the similar topic content, apart from the inclusion of outcomes of detention. The commentary covered the latest calendar year, but tables contained some quarterly details for the latest 2 years.

After the 2001 edition the annual bulletin was stopped. Figures continued to be collected for internal use by the Metropolitan Police, under the guidance of the National Police Chiefs Council (formerly the Association of Chief Police Officers, or ACPO). This resulted in the CTPHQ Coordination Centre (formerly the ACPO Counter Terrorism Coordination Centre, or ACTCC) assuming the role of collecting individual record data on terrorism cases (its title started as the Office of the National Coordinator of Terrorist Investigations). The Home Office had previously collected arrests and detention data directly from police forces.

The Home Office received data from the MPS and elsewhere on a more ad hoc basis, for example, for answering Parliamentary Questions. The Home Office bulletins resumed in 2009, following a request for reinstatement by John Reid, the then Home Secretary. The first release was a bulletin covering the intervening period: Statistics on Terrorism Arrests and Outcomes, Great Britain, 11 September 2001 to 31 March 2008.

The main changes over this period were the implementation of the Terrorism Act 2000; a wider scope of offences connected with terrorism; the extension of the allowed period of detention (further extended by the Terrorism Act 2006); searches at ports (under Schedule 7 of TACT 2000); and cordons set up by the police (under s.33 of TACT 2000).

After a further bulletin for 2008 to 2009, the series broadly adopted its current quarterly format and content. In 2013 to 2014, the collection was extended to include extra breakdowns of terrorist arrests and outcomes. For example, additional details on the nationality of persons arrested.

In December 2015, the release was bought forward by 3 months to make it timelier. This meant that going forward, the data is published 3 months after the period to which it refers; previously, data was published 6 months after the period to which it referred.

Furthermore, in 2017, a change was made to the ‘prisoners’ section of the release. Following feedback from data providers at HMPPS, it was decided that prisoners categorised as ‘domestic extremist or separatist’ prisoners would be counted within the ‘TACT or TACT-related’ cohort, where the threshold for this is met. This was to remove the previous subjectivity around the categorisation of domestic extremist prisoners. Further details around the ideologies of prisoners were also included for the first time in the ‘year to June 2017’ quarterly release to provide a clearer picture of those involved in TACT and TACT related offences.

In June 2018, and in response to feedback from stakeholders, Home Office statisticians widened the scope of the data collection on terrorism arrests to include all arrests with a terrorist element, to better reflect policing activity in recent years. Data in this release had previously covered statistics on arrests where the offence was considered to be related to terrorist activity.

Data in the statistical bulletin therefore includes all arrests relating to terrorist investigations, rather than arrests for terrorism-related offences only. A back series to 2012 has been provided in the data tables to ensure comparisons can still be made over time. Therefore, data in the ‘year to March 2018’ statistical bulletin (published June 2018) onwards, and the accompanying data tables, is not comparable with previous editions of the bulletin.

Feedback is always welcome on the future direction of the statistics. Please email any feedback to HSAI_Statistics@homeoffice.gov.uk