Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has considered the potential merits of extending the range of offences that can be considered under the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme.

The Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme is an exceptional power. It includes all indictable-only offences (e.g. murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery) and certain triable-either way offences sentenced in the Crown Court (e.g. threats to kill, stalking, most child sex offences).

Parliament intended this to be an exceptional power, and any expansion of the scheme must be carefully considered. While we understand calls for expansion, it is important for both victims and offenders that there is finality in sentencing. The general rule is that a person should expect to serve the sentence a judge has imposed upon them.

The Law Commission is undertaking a review of criminal appeals and it held a public consultation inviting views on a range of reforms to the ULS scheme, including offences in scope. The consultation closed on 27 June 2025 and the Law Commission is expected to publish its report in 2026.

The Government will carefully and holistically consider the Law Commission review’s final recommendations on the wider reforms to the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme in due course.