The latest Home Office release on the use of police powers under the Terrorism Act (TACT) 2000 reveals a continued steady decline in the use of terrorist stop and search powers.
72 people were stopped and searched under section 43 in the year to 31 March 2025, of which only 9 s43 stops (13%) led to arrest. This represents both a sharp fall in police use of the power to the lowest numbers since records began (-58% stops and -50% arrests on the previous year) and is in keeping with the long term trend of higher arrest rates resulting from fewer stops (the year ending March 2025 has resulted in the highest arrest rates than comparable records began in March 2011).
Ethnicity data showed that the proportion of stops of white people (33%) under s43 matched that of Asian people, the latest indication of a shift in police activity away from Asian people as terrorist suspects in recent years. However, it is important to note that the proportion of stops where ethnicity was not given by the individual(s) stopped (42%) was higher than any single ethnicity, highlighting a significant issue with the accuracy of police-recorded data.
The latest annual schedule 7 TACT 2000 data reveals 2,290 persons were subject to the use of the power in Great Britain -11% on the year ending 31 March 2024 (where there were 2,563 examinations). The use of schedule 7 led to 1,412 arrests under the power (-15% on 2023/24). Amongst ethnicities, Chinese or other represented the most number of examinations and detentions.
The year to March 2025 also saw no section 47A stops recorded, continuing a long trend of zero recorded searches under the power since the aftermath of the Parsons Green attack in the 2017/18 financial year.