HL Deb 29 July 1976 vol 373 cc1615-6WA
Lord GORDON-WALKER

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether it is proposed to implement the recent proposal by the Inner London Probation Service to establish a bail information centre; and whether they will indicate what progress is being made to develop bail verification schemes in Inner London.

Lord HARRIS of GREENWICH

I understand that the Inner London Probation and After-Care Service proposes to open, during September and on an experimental basis, a centre in Lambeth designed to provide short-term help for persons who have been remanded on bail but who, without such help, may be at risk of re-offending or absconding.

During 1975, the Service, in consultation with the Vera Institute of Justice of New York, introduced experimental procedures in Camberwell Green magistrates' court for obtaining and verifying information on defendants which might assist magistrates in reaching decisions on whether to grant bail. These procedures have since been extended to the Horseferry Road and Thames magistrates' courts and I gather that plans are currently being considered for a further extension in the South-Western magistrates' court in the early autumn. I welcome these developments.