Question reference: S6W-09242
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 21 June 2022
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Current status: Answered by Keith Brown on 8 July 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has conducted of how the proportion of people charged with a crime who are granted bail could change if the Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Bill were to be enacted as currently drafted.
Answer
Amongst other matters, the bail provisions in the Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Bill provide for a new bail test to be used by the court when assessing whether to grant bail to an accused person or remand them in custody. As the decision in any given case will continue to remain with the court and in light of the various uncertain factors that influence the court's decision-making e.g. levels of crime, types of crime committed, previous history of those accused of offences etc, it is not possible to provide an analysis of how the proportion of people charged with a crime who are granted bail might change as a result of the Bill's provisions.
The financial memorandum for the Bill outlines the estimated impact of all the provisions contained in the Bill. In particular, pages 2 to 14 provides details of the Scottish Government's estimates as to the financial impact of the bail provisions in the Bill.