§ Mr. Wheelerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will provide statistics to show how the Bail Act is working having regard to the frequency with which a hard core of professional criminals who have committed a serious criminal offence fulfil the criteria for the police to oppose bail, yet have succeeded in obtaining bail.
§ Mr. BrittanThe Bail Act 1976 requires a court considering a bail application to have regard to the character and antecedents of the defendant and the nature and seriousness of the offence charged, if these matters appear to be relevant. The Home Office has in hand a national analysis of courts' bail decisions during the first year of the Act's operation. That analysis will cover the incidence of re-offending on bail, but the data on which the analysis is being based do not identify cases where bail was opposed by the police.