Government publishes quarterly Terrorism Act statistics

The Home Office has published its quarterly statistics on the operation of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000. The stats include arrests and outcomes, and stops and searches.

The data covers the period up to 31 Mach 2024.

The statistics show that there were 212 arrests for terrorism-related activity in the year ending 31 March 2024. This is 40 more than in the year ending 31 March 2023 and represents a rise of 23 per cent.

The figure is an 8 per cent rise over the latest 5-year median (196).

19 per cent of those arrested were under 17, while 44 per cent were over 30.

Of the 212 arrested for terrorist-related activity, 68 (32 per cent) resulted in a charge, of which 62 were for terrorism-related offences. 91 (43 per cent) persons were bailed to return and released under investigation; 40 (19 per cent) persons were released without charge; 12 (6 per cent) faced alternative action, for example, receiving a caution or recalled to prison and 1 (less than 1%) has a decision pending.

In the year ending 31 March 2024, 72 persons were tried for terrorism-related offences, which is 19 more than in the year ending 31 March 2023.

Over the same period, there were 246 persons in custody for terrorism-connected offences in Great Britain, 14 more than in the year ending 31 March 2023.

In the year ending 31 March 2024, 170 persons were stopped and searched by the Metropolitan Police Service under section 43 of TACT 2000. This figure marks a decrease of 43 per cent compared to the year ending 31 March 2023 (298). There were only 18 arrests resulting from a section 43 stop and search, in the year ending 31 March 2024.