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Bail

Answer

Bail and remand decisions are a matter for the court in individual cases based on the facts that are presented to the court at the time of the hearing.

Under this government more people are going to prison and for longer. We have given prosecutors the right to challenge a decision to award bail to a defendant in a criminal case when they believe they present a danger to the public, or might flee the country.

The table below shows the number and proportion of offenders given post-conviction bail at the Crown Court for the selected offences, in England & Wales in each year from 2011 to 2013. The number and proportion of offenders given post-conviction bail at Crown Courts for rape, manslaughter, attempted murder and sexual offences against children has declined since 2011.

Number and proportion of offenders given post-conviction bail at Crown court for selected offences, England & Wales, 2011 to 2013(1)
		2011	2012	2013
Offence	Offenders
Murder	post-conviction bail	-	-	-
	proportion (%)	-	-	-
Rape	post-conviction bail	102	119	95
	proportion (%)	9.0	10.6	8.7
Manslaughter	post-conviction bail	144	129	115
	proportion (%)	27.7	27.3	22.9
Attempted murder	post-conviction bail	3	-	-
	proportion (%)	*	-	-
Sexual offences against children	post-conviction bail	1,277	1,147	1,105
	proportion (%)	34.8	33.2	32.4
(-) Nil
* = Based on less than 10 people.
(1) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
(2) Includes the following offences: Sexual Offences Act 1956, Sexual Offences Act 2003 sections 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 25, 26, 28, 47, 48, 49, 50; Protection of Children Act 1978 SS.1 & 6, Criminal Justice Act 1988 S.160.
Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice.
Ref: PQ 208543

The table below shows the number of offenders given post-conviction bail at the Crown Court who subsequently failed to appear for sentence, in England & Wales during 2013. This figure has declined since 2011 for almost every offence type. Overall there has been a 35% decrease in the total number of offenders given post-conviction bail at Crown Court who subsequently failed to appear for sentence since 2011.

Offenders given post-conviction bail at Crown court who subsequently failed to appear for sentence, England & Wales, 2013(1)
Offence	2013
Violence against the person	26
Sexual offences	11
Robbery	15
Theft Offences	63
Criminal damage and arson	4
Drug offences	56
Possession of weapons	5
Public order offences	13
Miscellaneous crimes against society	34
Fraud Offences	17
Offences (ex. motoring offences)	4
Motoring offences	-
Total	248
(-) Nil
(1) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice.
Ref: PQ 208575

Decisions regarding post-conviction bail are made independently by judges. They will not take this decision unless they deem it to be appropriate in each particular case. A little more than 30% of those getting post-conviction bail go on to an immediate custodial sentence, with the remainder sentenced to non-custodial alternatives.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

208575

Session

2014-15

Related items

Bail: Crimes of Violence
Thursday, 26 March 2015
Written questions
House of Commons

Grouped for answer

Yes

Subjects

Bail

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.parliament.uk