Bail: Advisory Services

(asked on 4th July 2022) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people accessed Bail Information Services in (a) courts and (b) prisons in the most recent period for which data is available.


Answered by
Sarah Dines Portrait
Sarah Dines
This question was answered on 12th July 2022

The Bail Information Service (BIS) project has Bail Information Officers (BIOs) operating in 31 public sector remand prisons across England and Wales, providing bail information reports for defendants who are being considered for release on bail following an initial remand into custody. This can be provided to magistrate and Crown Courts at the second or subsequent hearing.

Bail Information Services are not yet provided in court at first hearings; however, we anticipate that over the coming months the project will generate sufficient data to help us to understand the efficacy of any design and development of a potentially permanent dedicated and proactive Bail Information Service that can operate in both prisons and courts across England and Wales.

Owing to the circumstances created by the pandemic, it was not possible to carry out the pilot as originally planned. A limited bail information service was attempted in a few magistrates’ courts in the North West of England – mainly Liverpool Magistrates’ Court and Manchester Magistrates’ Court, with some partial cover in a few smaller courts in Lancashire. Owing to the delivery environment at that time, however, it was not possible to collect the data needed for the pilot.

In March 2021, Her Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service introduced a bail information scheme in prisons across England and Wales. Every public sector remand prison, apart from high-security establishments, now has a bail information officer. This project was originally intended to run for 12 months, but as the difficulties relating to the pandemic continued throughout 2021-22, the scheme has been extended to April 2023. This will enable data to be gathered and evaluated, to inform decisions about the design and development of a potentially permanent scheme in prisons in England and Wales (the scheme could also include magistrates’ courts).

We do not currently hold data on the number of people accessing the Bail Information Service. However, the data we are collecting through the current initiative is to provide us with the evidence we need in order to develop a longer-term scheme.

The Bail Information Service project has been extended until April 2023. A key aim of the project is to gather sufficient data and evidence to inform decisions around the development of a future dedicated and pro-active Bail Information Service in England and Wales. As the project develops, we are exploring how voluntary sector involvement can support the operational delivery of the Bail Information Service, and any findings will be analysed as part of the overall evaluation post April 2023.

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