§ Sir John WheelerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his plans for the future publication of statistics on the prevention of terrorism legislation in Great Britain.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeMy Department will continue to publish annually statistics on the operation of Prevention of Terrorism legislation in a Home Office Statistical Bulletin. The most recent publication, on 25 February 1993, included information for the whole of 1992. The next publication, due in February 1994, will contain statistics for the whole of 1993, including information about individual quarters during the year.
Separate publication of quarterly figures will cease immediately. In 1979 the then Home Secretary undertook to publish quarterly bulletins following Lord Shackleton's 1978 review of the Prevention of Terrorism Acts. The picture was then very different: In 1979 more than 850 people were detained in Great Britain and 48 extension orders were made. In 1992 the figures were 160 and 17 respectively. I have, therefore, decided that separate publication of quarterly figures is no longer justified.
No other bulletins on criminal statistics appear so frequently. Apart from the cost of producing the quarterly bulletins, there are sound statistical reasons for not publishing so often. The quarterly figures are unstable and there is considerable variation from quarter to quarter. It is therefore misleading to deduce trends based on the most recent quarter's data alone. Publication of all four quarters' data together, however, helps to put any variations in context. In previous quarterly statistical bulletins, the figures have had to be revised for annual publication, in the light of new information received. By ceasing quarterly publication, the figures will be more reliable on first presentation.