Asked by: Baroness Gould of Potternewton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that community resolution orders are being used for more serious offences than originally intended; and what plans they have to prevent such orders being used for anything other than low-level crimes.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
Out of Court Disposals (OOCDs) allow police to deal quickly and proportionately with low-level offending without recourse to the courts. One type of OOCD is community resolution. This is a non-statutory disposal that can be administered by police forces when the offender accepts responsibility for the offence, and in most cases, where the victim has agreed that they do not want more formal action taken.
‘Community resolution’ is a nationally recognised term for a disposal which has been in use by police for some years, and prior to 2014. In 2014, following consultation, the Ministry of Justice identified support for community resolution as part of a simplified framework for OOCDs in which all disposals had conditions attached.
The College of Policing hold guidance on the use of community resolutions:
http://library.college.police.uk/docs/appref/Community-Resolutions-Incorporating-RJ-Final-Aug-2012-2.pdf (this was also summarised as part of a quick reference guide published by Ministry of Justice in 2013: https://www.yjlc.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/MoJ-Quick-reference-guides-out-of-court-disposals-2013.pdf).
Individual decisions around the appropriateness of issuing an OOCD are an operational matter for police.
Typically, a Constable, Police Community Support Officer or Police Staff Investigator can decide to issue a community resolution, in accordance with Authorised Professional Practice, gravity matrices and local force policies which inform decision making.
Police and partners have a range of measures in place to ensure appropriate use of Out of Court Disposals. Supervisors are expected to check decision-making of their staff regularly. Out of Court Disposal scrutiny panels are also in place with external representation - these review in detail a selection of cases to determine whether the method of disposal is considered appropriate, based on a review of the information/evidence available to the decision maker at the time.
Government works closely with the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) whose Charging and Out of Court Disposals strategy (2017-2021) sets out their position and support for forces around OOCDs. We publish data and pay attention to trends in the use of Out of Court Disposals on an ongoing basis.
Asked by: Baroness Gould of Potternewton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance they provide to police forces in England and Wales on the criteria for determining whether a person should be subject to a community resolution order rather than an alternative punishment; and who determines whether or not to use a community resolution order.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
Out of Court Disposals (OOCDs) allow police to deal quickly and proportionately with low-level offending without recourse to the courts. One type of OOCD is community resolution. This is a non-statutory disposal that can be administered by police forces when the offender accepts responsibility for the offence, and in most cases, where the victim has agreed that they do not want more formal action taken.
‘Community resolution’ is a nationally recognised term for a disposal which has been in use by police for some years, and prior to 2014. In 2014, following consultation, the Ministry of Justice identified support for community resolution as part of a simplified framework for OOCDs in which all disposals had conditions attached.
The College of Policing hold guidance on the use of community resolutions:
http://library.college.police.uk/docs/appref/Community-Resolutions-Incorporating-RJ-Final-Aug-2012-2.pdf (this was also summarised as part of a quick reference guide published by Ministry of Justice in 2013: https://www.yjlc.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/MoJ-Quick-reference-guides-out-of-court-disposals-2013.pdf).
Individual decisions around the appropriateness of issuing an OOCD are an operational matter for police.
Typically, a Constable, Police Community Support Officer or Police Staff Investigator can decide to issue a community resolution, in accordance with Authorised Professional Practice, gravity matrices and local force policies which inform decision making.
Police and partners have a range of measures in place to ensure appropriate use of Out of Court Disposals. Supervisors are expected to check decision-making of their staff regularly. Out of Court Disposal scrutiny panels are also in place with external representation - these review in detail a selection of cases to determine whether the method of disposal is considered appropriate, based on a review of the information/evidence available to the decision maker at the time.
Government works closely with the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) whose Charging and Out of Court Disposals strategy (2017-2021) sets out their position and support for forces around OOCDs. We publish data and pay attention to trends in the use of Out of Court Disposals on an ongoing basis.
Asked by: Baroness Gould of Potternewton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why they introduced community resolution orders as informal punishments for low-level offences in 2014; who was responsible for their introduction; and whether their use was approved by the Home Secretary.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
Out of Court Disposals (OOCDs) allow police to deal quickly and proportionately with low-level offending without recourse to the courts. One type of OOCD is community resolution. This is a non-statutory disposal that can be administered by police forces when the offender accepts responsibility for the offence, and in most cases, where the victim has agreed that they do not want more formal action taken.
‘Community resolution’ is a nationally recognised term for a disposal which has been in use by police for some years, and prior to 2014. In 2014, following consultation, the Ministry of Justice identified support for community resolution as part of a simplified framework for OOCDs in which all disposals had conditions attached.
The College of Policing hold guidance on the use of community resolutions:
http://library.college.police.uk/docs/appref/Community-Resolutions-Incorporating-RJ-Final-Aug-2012-2.pdf (this was also summarised as part of a quick reference guide published by Ministry of Justice in 2013: https://www.yjlc.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/MoJ-Quick-reference-guides-out-of-court-disposals-2013.pdf).
Individual decisions around the appropriateness of issuing an OOCD are an operational matter for police.
Typically, a Constable, Police Community Support Officer or Police Staff Investigator can decide to issue a community resolution, in accordance with Authorised Professional Practice, gravity matrices and local force policies which inform decision making.
Police and partners have a range of measures in place to ensure appropriate use of Out of Court Disposals. Supervisors are expected to check decision-making of their staff regularly. Out of Court Disposal scrutiny panels are also in place with external representation - these review in detail a selection of cases to determine whether the method of disposal is considered appropriate, based on a review of the information/evidence available to the decision maker at the time.
Government works closely with the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) whose Charging and Out of Court Disposals strategy (2017-2021) sets out their position and support for forces around OOCDs. We publish data and pay attention to trends in the use of Out of Court Disposals on an ongoing basis.
Asked by: Baroness Gould of Potternewton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their decision to extend the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme to give the public the right to ask for tougher sentences for nine further terror-related offences, whether they intend to extend that scheme to cases of other serious crime.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The Government extended the scope of the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme to a range of terrorism offences in response to the review of counter-terrorism powers that followed the London and Manchester attacks. This was the first step in meeting the commitment to consider the extension of the scope of the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme The Ministry of Justice and the Attorney General are currently considering how the scheme could be extended more generally.
Asked by: Baroness Gould of Potternewton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance is issued to (1) judges, and (2) magistrates, relating to the length of time that should occur between conviction by the courts and the issuing of a final sentence.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The Criminal Procedure Rules require the court to pass sentence as soon as it is able to take into account the information that it needs for sentencing purposes. The information needed and the time taken to provide and consider it will depend upon the circumstances of the case.
Asked by: Baroness Gould of Potternewton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they monitor and analyse sentences issued for the same or similar offences in order to identify any disparities.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
It is for the courts to decide the appropriate sentence within the maximum penalty set by Parliament, taking into account the law, any relevant sentencing guidelines and the facts of the individual case.
The Ministry of Justice publish sentencing statistics on a regular basis. As sentencing is entirely a matter for the Judiciary, who are independent, the Ministry of Justice would not comment on perceived disparities between sentences in individual cases.
Asked by: Baroness Gould of Potternewton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the process for determining an individual’s sentence following conviction by the courts.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
It is for the courts to decide the appropriate sentence within the maximum penalty set by Parliament, taking into account the law, any relevant sentencing guidelines and the facts of the individual case.
The Ministry of Justice publish sentencing statistics on a regular basis. As sentencing is entirely a matter for the Judiciary, who are independent, the Ministry of Justice would not comment on perceived disparities between sentences in individual cases.