Experiences of Supervised Bail

4 Conclusions

4.1 The findings from interviews with supervised bailees have shown that bailees can respond positively to supervised bail as an alternative to remand, to having a good, trusting relationship with their supervisor, to flexibility in the frequency and nature of support provided according to their needs, and to positive feedback.

4.2 These findings likely reflect the most positive success stories of supervised bail, as those who had had a good experience were more likely to be approached to be interviewed by bail workers, and also more likely to agree to be interviewed. However, the findings clearly show that supervised bail can have a positive effect on the lives of bailees, including helping them to reduce or stop offending while on bail, and potentially also longer term. This report has sought to explore the circumstances under which supervised bail has such a positive impact, which may be informative to future policy and practice of supervised bail.

4.3 A further report will bring summary level findings from these interviews together with findings from other strands of research into supervised bail to give an overview of the impact of supervised bail in Scotland, including its impact on the prison population.