Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of increasing jail terms for repeat drug offenders.

The law provides a robust framework of drug offences to address a variety of behaviours. The most serious of these carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Sentencing is entirely a matter for our independent courts, in line with any relevant sentencing guidelines – issued by the independent Sentencing Council. The Council issued revised guidelines for drug offences in 2021.

In England and Wales, when deciding what sentence to impose the courts take into account the circumstances of the offence, the offender and any aggravating and mitigating factors which might lead to an increase or decrease in sentence. The law states that where there is a relevant previous conviction the court must consider this to be an aggravating factor when sentencing.

In recognition of the seriousness of drug offences, the law provides for a minimum custodial sentence of 7 years’ imprisonment following a third conviction for a Class A drug trafficking offence in England and Wales. Measures in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 strengthened existing legislation to ensure that the courts always impose at least the minimum term unless there are exceptional circumstances which justify not doing so.