§ Ms. ArmstrongTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of all those cases that come before magistrates courts where the police do not oppose bail are refused bail.
§ Mr. John PattenInformation is not available centrally on the number of cases where magistrates courts have remanded defendants in custody although the Crown Prosecution Service did not oppose the grant of bail. However, a sample drawn from two magistrates' courts in 1986 suggests that the proportion is very small, (about 2 per cent. of cases where no objection to bail was made).