Found: www.gov.uk/government/statistical -data-sets/hmcts -management -information -october -2023 5 Question 6 – Sentencing

Found: For more detailed information please see the Impact Assessment within the Sentencing Bill 2023:

Found: the Government’s plans to introduce a pre sumption to suspend short -term sentences, as part of the Sentencing

Found: Alex Chalk KC MP Lord Chancellor & Secretary of State for Justice to the Committee to regarding he Sentencing

Found: When will the Sentencing Bill be returning to the Commons for its Committee stage?

Found: authorities , October 2023 136 Animal Welfare Act 2006, section 4 ; House of Commons Library, Animal Welfare (Sentencing

Found: Whilst we note that the revisions have not taken into account the provisions of the Sentencing Bill

Found: • When will the Sentencing Bill be returning to the Commons for its Committee stage?

Found: Correspondence from the Committee to Rt Hon Alex Chalk KC MP Secretary of State for Justice regarding the Sentencing

Found: This Government is also legislating, through the Sentencing Bill, to impose a duty on courts to suspend

Found: Since our last update, we have: •Introduced the Sentencing Bill, which will ensure that convicted

Found: Since our last update, we have: • Introduced the Sentencing Bill, which will ensure that convicted

Found: Since our last update, we have: • Introduced the Sentencing Bill, which will ensure that convicted

Found: Since our last update, we have: • Introduced the Sentencing Bill, which will ensure that convicted

Found: Q93 Bell Ribeiro-Addy: Kim, if the Sentencing Bill was enacted tomorrow, would the probation service

Found: should be looking at prevention in the first place, focusing on short sentences, such as in the Sentencing

Found: www.gov.uk/government/statistical -data-sets/hmcts -management -information -october -2023 5 Question 6 – Sentencing

Found: is an area that should be considered further by the Government, particularly with the upcoming Sentencing

Found: What makes it particularly complicated in the longer term is the impact of the changes in the Sentencing

Found: What makes it particularly complicated in the longer term is the impact of the changes in the Sentencing

Found: .15 The King’s Speech also contains relevant announcements, particularly the introduction in a new Sentencing

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reform the criminal justice system to help tackle violence against women and girls.

Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)

This Government has introduced a comprehensive legislative framework to prevent violence against women, including our landmark Domestic Abuse Act 2021.

We have pioneered the creation of new offences including coercive control, non-fatal strangulation and intimate image abuse; more than doubled the number of adult rape cases reaching court compared to when we commissioned our End-to-End Rape Review; and made sure that sentences for adult rape are almost 40% longer than they were in 2010.

And through our Sentencing Bill, we will ensure that rapists and serious sexual offenders spend the entirety of their custodial sentence behind bars, without possibility of parole.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reform the criminal justice system to help tackle violence against women and girls.

Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)

This Government has introduced a comprehensive legislative framework to prevent violence against women, including our landmark Domestic Abuse Act 2021.

We have pioneered the creation of new offences including coercive control, non-fatal strangulation and intimate image abuse; more than doubled the number of adult rape cases reaching court compared to when we commissioned our End-to-End Rape Review; and made sure that sentences for adult rape are almost 40% longer than they were in 2010.

And through our Sentencing Bill, we will ensure that rapists and serious sexual offenders spend the entirety of their custodial sentence behind bars, without possibility of parole.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to tackle violence against women and girls through the criminal justice system.

Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)

This Government has introduced a comprehensive legislative framework to prevent violence against women, including our landmark Domestic Abuse Act 2021.

We have pioneered the creation of new offences including coercive control, non-fatal strangulation and intimate image abuse; more than doubled the number of adult rape cases reaching court compared to when we commissioned our End-to-End Rape Review; and made sure that sentences for adult rape are almost 40% longer than they were in 2010.

And through our Sentencing Bill, we will ensure that rapists and serious sexual offenders spend the entirety of their custodial sentence behind bars, without possibility of parole.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of (a) reviews of Sentences of Imprisonment for Public Protection for people sentenced for rape and (b) a ban on such Sentences on victims of rape.

Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) was abolished in 2012. For those still serving the sentence, it is for the independent Parole Board to determine whether to release an IPP prisoner by considering the evidence presented and applying the statutory release test.

On 16 October 2023 the Lord Chancellor announced to the Parliament reforms to ensure that convicted rapists (and those convicted of the most serious sexual offences) must serve 100% of their custodial term in prison. These reforms will be legislated for in the Sentencing Bill. Since 2010, offenders convicted of rape are serving longer in prison, with sentences rising almost 3 years, from approximately 6.5 years in 2010 to approximately 9.5 years now – an over 40% increase.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of offenders sentenced to a suspended sentence order were subsequently sent to immediate custody for (a) breaching the conditions of the order and (b) reoffending in each year since 2017.

Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The information requested could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost. The below detail is provided as background information.

A 2019 Ministry of Justice analysis of a matched cohort of over 30,000 offenders shows that those who serve sentences of immediate custody of less than 12 months reoffend at a rate higher than similar offenders given community orders and suspended sentence orders by the courts.

Our latest quarterly statistics, January – March 2022, suggest that 55.5% of people given a custodial sentence of less than 12 months reoffend within one year. For offenders punished with suspended sentence orders with requirements that are served in the community, the reoffending rate is significantly lower at 24.2%.

Based on this evidence, the Government introduced the presumption to suspend short sentences as part of the Sentencing Bill, currently before Parliament. The courts will retain a wide discretion to impose immediate custody in many circumstances.

Offenders will then serve their sentence in the community. When the court imposes a suspended sentence, they can impose requirements on the offender and the sentencing framework provides a flexible range of requirements, such as unpaid work, drug and alcohol treatment, curfew, and electronic monitoring, with the intention of punishing the offender, providing reparation to the community, and addressing any criminogenic or rehabilitative needs of the offender which may otherwise increase the likelihood of their reoffending.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and which offences were committed by people on a suspended sentence order in each of the last three years.

Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The below detail is provided as background information.

A 2019 Ministry of Justice analysis of a matched cohort of over 30,000 offenders shows that those who serve sentences of immediate custody of less than 12 months reoffend at a rate higher than similar offenders given community orders and suspended sentence orders by the courts.

Our latest quarterly statistics, January – March 2022, suggest that 55.5% of people given a custodial sentence of less than 12 months reoffend within one year. For offenders punished with suspended sentence orders with requirements that are served in the community, the reoffending rate is significantly lower at 24.2%.

Based on this evidence, the Government introduced the presumption to suspend short sentences as part of the Sentencing Bill, currently before Parliament. The courts will retain a wide discretion to impose immediate custody in many circumstances.

Offenders will then serve their sentence in the community. When the court imposes a suspended sentence, they can impose requirements on the offender and the sentencing framework provides a flexible range of requirements, such as unpaid work, drug and alcohol treatment, curfew, and electronic monitoring, with the intention of punishing the offender, providing reparation to the community, and addressing any criminogenic or rehabilitative needs of the offender which may otherwise increase the likelihood of their reoffending.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reduce overcrowding in adult male prisons (1) by extending the use of non-custodial sentences, (2) by reducing the remand and recall prison populations, and (3) by improving public understanding surrounding current (a) levels of crime, and (b) sentence lengths.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

In certain circumstances, there is persuasive evidence that community orders and suspended sentence orders are more effective than sentences of immediate custody in reducing reoffending. In the Sentencing Bill, currently before Parliament, the Government is introducing a presumption to suspend short custodial sentences. The offender would then serve their sentence in the community.

In terms of the remand and recall populations, we are working with our partners across the criminal justice system to safely manage the system and protect the public. This includes raising awareness of, and removing barriers to, the use of bail where appropriate as an alternative to remanding defendants in custody, including on 2 August 2023 publishing a new EM Court Bail Protocol. For recall, we have issued guidance to probation staff to ensure all safe alternatives to recall are considered before a decision is taken, and we have re-invigorated the Secretary of States power, under Section 255(B) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, to release recalled offenders following a risk assessed recall review without reference to the Parole Board.

Upholding public confidence in the criminal justice system is a core priority and we continue to work to deliver this. Whilst improving public understanding is a valuable and important goal, it does not, by itself, affect the prison population.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the expected combined impact on the size of the adult male prison population of the Sentencing Bill, the Criminal Justice Bill, and the Victims and Prisoners Bill.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Government is taking action to reform the justice system and reduce the pressure felt on our prison estate through measures introduced in the Criminal Justice Bill, Sentencing Bill, and the Victims and Prisoners Bill. This is to ensure we continue to have capacity to crack down on crime, reduce reoffending, and protect the public from the most dangerous offenders.

Publishing impact assessments is routine alongside the legislative process and the current estimates for the impact of the announced measures on the future population have been published and can be found on the gov.uk pages on each Bill. As the Bills progress through Parliament, if an update to these estimates and impact assessments are required, then these will be updated and republished during Bill progress.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the College of Policing's publication entitled Imprisonment and other custodial sanctions, published on 30 November 2023, if he will (a) make and (b) publish an assessment of the implications for his policies of the findings of that publication on the impact on reoffending of (i) custodial and (ii) non-custodial sentences.

Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Government has no plans to publish an assessment of the implications of this publication, as the findings of the College of Policing’s report entitled ‘Imprisonment and other custodial sanctions’ support the findings of Ministry of Justice research.

A 2019 MoJ analysis of a matched cohort of over 30,000 offenders shows that those who serve sentences of immediate custody of less than 12 months reoffend at a rate higher than similar offenders given community orders and suspended sentence orders by the courts

Our statistics suggest that 55% of people given a custodial sentence of less than 12 months are convicted for further crimes. For offenders punished with Suspended Sentence Orders with requirements that are served in the community, the reoffending rate is significantly lower at 24%.

Based on this evidence, the Government introduced the presumption to suspend short sentences as part of the Sentencing Bill, currently before Parliament. This measure will place a duty on the courts to suspend custodial sentences of 12 months or less. Offenders will then serve their sentence in the community and will be required to comply. When the court imposes a suspended sentence, they can impose requirements on the offender and the sentencing framework provides a flexible range of requirements, such as unpaid work, drug and alcohol treatment, curfew, and electronic monitoring, with the intention of punishing the offender, providing reparation to the community, and addressing any criminogenic or rehabilitative needs of the offender which may otherwise increase the likelihood of their reoffending.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to tackle violence against women and girls through the criminal justice system.

Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)

This Government’s track record in tackling violence against women and girls includes introducing

• Our landmark Domestic Abuse Act, which created the new criminal offence of non-fatal strangulation; recognised wider forms of abuse, such as emotional and economic abuse, in law for the first time; and extended the controlling and coercive behaviour offence to include post-separation abuse; and,

• The Rape Review, through which we have tripled the number of cases the police are now referring to the CPS and more than doubled the number of adult rape cases reaching court since 2019.

And we are going further by introducing:

• The Sentencing Bill, which will legislate to ensure that rapists and the most serious sexual offenders remain in prison for the whole of their custodial sentences, up from 2/3 currently and after the last Labour Government lowered it to only 50%; and

• The Criminal Justice Bill, which will strengthen the multi-agency management of offenders convicted of controlling or coercive behaviour.

Found: Sentencing Bill - Changes to Home Detention Curfew. 3. Prison Reform Trust (2023).

Amend the Sentencing Bill 2023 to include a clause abolishing suspended sentences for any violent crime with a weapon. Under current laws, an attacker can cause a life-threatening injury causing a permanent irreversible injury or condition and not serve time. We believe this is wrong.

Found: Amend the Sentencing Bill 2023 to include a clause abolishing suspended sentences for any violent crime

Found: to apply too, this is an important area given the changes to short sentences bring introduced by the Sentencing

Found: The Criminal Justice Bill and Sentencing Bill provide the opportunity for the Government to implement

Found: Regarding proposals in the Sentencing Bill that would introduce a presumption in favour of a suspended

Found: In addition, our Sentencing Bill will ensur e that rapists spend every day of their custodial term behind

Found: This is part of wider work the government is doing through the Sentencing Bill, which will be back before

Found: following the successful passage of the Procurement Act 2023 • deliver the Criminal Justice Bill, the Sentencing

Found: 70Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Gareth Bacon MP Responsibilities include: ● Sentencing Policy ● Sentencing

Found: Post- legislative scrutiny - Acts considered0 Legislative Consent Memorandums6 Counter-T errorism and Sentencing