This is quite a complex subject and there are no right or wrong answers. First, you have to remember that EVERYONE has a right to bail when brought before the courts, and it is for the prosecution to show good reason why that right should be denied.
In certain cases the granting of bail is unlikely e.g. murder/rape etc. but not unheard of...........bail is also unlikely where the likely sentence will be custodial and there is a guilty plea............but again, it is not automatic because of that right to bail............you can thank those wonderful people in Parliament for setting the criteria and for determining what can or can't be done in the name of justice.
Then there is also the background of the person charged with an offence to consider..........if they have a clean sheet then the presumtion is more in their favour of granting bail than not...............do they have work ?(real work, not transitory stuff), do they have family ties in the area? do they have community ties? have they turned up for hearings previously? (if not the first hearing)? likely disposition of the case?..................and the list goes on..............of course you can impose conditions till the cows come home (except the presumtion is that if you need to impose an extensive set of conditions, is a remand in custody more appropriate?)....................but the problem then is one of policing them. Of course, if any of the conditions do get broken it is a lot easier to revoke bail and remand in custody, provided it can be proved the conditions have been broken!!
On top of all that, you then get the Court of Appeal making statements to the lower courts about resisting remands in custody because of high prison populations, and Parliament as well getting in on the act telling the courts what to do......................all this from a party who got into power saying "Tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime" (or some other inane drivel along the same lines)
All-in-all, those idiots in power need to spend some time in a court to see just how they have tied the hands of those sitting in judgement, and to pull their heads out of their *rses and taste the coffee!!
Sorry to go off on one, but its one of the reasons why I left the UK
chris