Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2022 to Question 114731 on Magistrates: Sentencing, for what reasons his Department do not anticipate that extending magistrates' sentencing powers will have an effect on pre-trial detention.

In order to fully maximise court recovery, we are extending magistrates’ court sentencing powers from 6 to 12 months for a single Triable Either Way offence by commencing existing provisions in the Sentencing Act 2020 and Criminal Justice Act 2003. This extension to magistrates’ court sentencing powers will allow for more cases to be retained in magistrates’ courts, allowing these cases to be heard more quickly and reducing the backlog of outstanding cases in the Crown Court. The change will only affect where sentencing can take place and the speed at which sentencing can occur, which will not impact the process in the pre-trial phase.