Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much has been collected in sureties when defendants breached their bail conditions and a surety had been given on their behalf before bail was granted in each of the last three years.

The following surety monies have been collected when defendants breached their bail conditions and a surety had been given before bail was granted:

1 April 2013 - 31 March 2014: £14,251.10

1 April 2012 – 31 March 2013: £16,952.50

1 April 2011 – 31 March 2012: £57,771.86

A surety is a promise (by a third party) to pay a sum of money should a defendant fail to surrender to the court when ordered to do so. Where a bail surety is agreed as a condition of bail and the defendant subsequently fails to attend, the court can make an order to forfeit all or part of these sums. Unpaid sureties are subject to enforcement action in the same way as unpaid fines.

The value of sureties collected in 2011-12 was particularly high due to a higher than usual number of defendants failing to surrender to the court when ordered to do so following the period of civil unrest in August 2011.