Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of policies applying to bail conditions for sex offenders awaiting sentencing.

The decision to remand an individual in custody or to grant bail is solely a matter for the courts acting in accordance with the law on a case by case basis.

Bail can only be refused where there are substantial grounds for believing that the individual would abscond, commit further offences, interfere with witnesses or otherwise obstruct the course of justice. Where the court grants bail, it does so with the proviso that the individual attends court, does not commit another offence while on bail and does not interfere with witnesses or otherwise obstruct the course of justice. The court may also decide to impose certain conditions to help ensure that the individual complies with these requirements and to help mitigate any other identified bail risks. Such conditions may include, but are not limited to, the surrender of passports to prevent the individual from travelling abroad.

The court can also impose a Sexual Risk Order where an individual has committed an act of a sexual nature which suggests that they pose a risk of harm to the public in the UK or children or vulnerable adults abroad.

The Government is working to ensure the courts have all the information they need to make an informed decision about the risk posed by an individual.

Information relating to bail conditions that are imposed by the courts is not centrally recorded in the Court Proceeding Database held by the Ministry of Justice and to obtain it would involve a manual interrogation of court records which would result in a disproportionate cost to the department.

On 17 January, the Justice Select Committee published its report entitled "The Role of Adult Custodial Remand in the Criminal Justice System". The report makes recommendations which relate to bail conditions and to the availability of data. The Government will publish its response to the report on 17 March.