Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that bail is not normally offered for people charged with rape, indecent assault and sexual offences against children.

Bail decisions are operational decisions made by the police and courts on a case-by-case basis. We are reforming the police bail process in the Policing and Criminal Justice Bill and are clear that the decision to impose bail should take careful account of the seriousness of the offence and the risk posed by the individual. These considerations apply to cases of rape, indecent assault and sexual offences against children as they would to any other serious offence committed against a child.