HC Deb 16 July 1981 vol 8 cc428-9W
Mr. Kilroy-Silk

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his statement of 18 June 1981, how many persons were remanded in custody untried by magistrates' courts for the most convenient recent period; how many of them were subsequently bailed before trial or committal; and after how many remands such persons were bailed;

(2) how many persons who were tried by magistrates' courts were remanded in custody untried, and subsequently bailed before trial, for the most convenient recent period; and after how many remands such persons were bailed;

(3) for the most convenient recent period, how many persons were committed fur trial, and how many of them were remanded in custody untried and subsequently bailed before committal; and after how many remands such persons were bailed.

Mr. Mayhew

The information available about untried person remanded in custody by magistrates is given in table 1. The information available to me about the number of remands in custody before release on bail comes from an analysis of a sample of persons first remanded in the period May-October 1978 and is given in table 2. This information is not available separately for those dealt with by the magistrates and for those committed for trial. The number of persons committed for trial in 1979, the latest year for which figures are available, is published in table 8.5 of "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, 1979"—Cmnd. 8098.

Table 1
Untried persons remanded in custody at magistrates' courts and persons subsequently bailed before trial or committal by disposal England and Wales 1979
Number (thousands)
Disposal Number remanded in custody before trial or committal
Total Subsequently bailed before trial or committal
Committed for trial 15.1 3.5
Dealt with by the magistrates 22.9 3.5
Total 37.9 7.1*
* In addition some persons first remanded on bail and subsequently remanded in custody before trial or committal will have been remanded on bail again before trial or committal; it is estimated that there were in total about one thousand such persons.

Table 2
Untried persons remanded in custody at magistrates' courts and subsequently bailed before trial or committal; the proportion with different number of remands in custody prior to the granting of bail
England and Wales May-October 1978
Number of remands in custody Estimated percentages
1 63
2 20
3 7
4 6
5 or 6 3
7 or more 1
Total 100