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Latest figures show the 3,000 potential terrorists monitored since 2015 has grown after the return of UK-born people who left to fight with ISIS. About 400 ISIS-trained fighters are believed to have returned from war zones in Syria and Iraq. Despite being on red alert for more attacks on home soil like last night's Manchester bombing, new statistics show the number of arrests, stop and searches, and examinations of suspected terrorists at ports and airports dropped in 2016 on the levels seen in 2015. This comes at the same time the number of people arrested on suspicion of plotting terror strikes on British soil has grown by eight per cent.

GETTY At the time of the Manchester bombing there were 3,500 terror suspects in UK

In 2016 there were 260 terror-related arrests, a drop of eight per cent on the 282 people held in 2015. The figures were revealed in a quarterly Home Office report on the use of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000, which was released in March. The figures also show that the amount of white people being arrested on suspicion of terrorism has gone up. Seventy (25 per cent) of the people arrested in 2015 were white, while 91 (35 per cent) of those held last year were white.

Last year 13 per cent (35) of arrests were of people suspected of plotting terror attacks on British soil, a sharp rise on the five per cent (15) of such arrests in 2015. The report said: "Of the 260 arrests for terrorism-related offences in the year ending 31 December 2016, 96 had resulted in a charge by January 16 2017 (79 terrorism-related and 17 non-terrorism-related). "In 68 cases, the individual had been released without charge; in a further 90 cases, the arrestee was released on bail pending further investigation." The use of a power for officers to question people entering or leaving the country at ports, airports, international rail stations and in border areas fell dramatically by 30 per cent in 2016 compared to 2015. In 2015, the power was used around 27,800 times, but this fell to 19,355 last year. Under the power, people can be detained for up to nine hours, with DNA samples and fingerprints taken, without the need for any reasonable suspicion.

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In the year ending 31 December 2016, a total of 19,355 persons were examined under this power in Great Britain, a fall of 30 per cent on the previous year. Home Office report

The report said: "When necessary they may also detain and search individuals. "The aim is to determine whether that person appears to be someone who is or has been concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism. "In the year ending 31 December 2016, a total of 19,355 persons were examined under this power in Great Britain, a fall of 30 per cent on the previous year. "This has continued the decline in the use of the power in recent years." It does not explain in the report why the number has dropped, but there has been pressure from groups like Stop Watch, which argues they infringe the human rights of Muslims and other communities.

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SWNS Forensics teams are at Manchester Arena today after the bombing

The number of people detained after being examined under this power fell in 2016 by 16 per cent. There were 1,828 detained in 2015 and 1,539 last year. The amount of stop and searches of suspected terrorists anywhere in the UK, when reasonable suspicion does exist, fell by seven per cent in 2016. There were 483 uses of the power in 2016, a fall from the 521 in 2015.

PA Armed police on the streets of Manchester after the bombing

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