To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the operation of recent reforms relating to the right to silence; and if he will make a statement. [15805]

The Home Office Research and Statistics Directorate has been monitoring the effects of the 1994 right to silence legislation since its introduction. The findings of the research will be published in two parts: the first, due at the end of this year, will cover the changes in the frequency of the suspect's use of right to silence in police interviews; and the second, due early next year, will look at the wider impact of the provisions on the criminal justice system.