Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the new procedure in Magistrates' Courts routinely not to provide bailed defendants with written details of their bail conditions and future court dates on the number of defendants who (1) break their bail conditions, and (2) fail to appear at court; and whether they intend to monitor and track the impact of that change.

The procedural requirement in Magistrates’ Courts for the provision to defendants of written details of their bail conditions, and future court dates, has not changed. The Criminal Procedure Rules require the court to serve notice of a decision about bail on the defendant. This notice can be either personally served on the defendant at court, or sent by post following the hearing.