Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the 10 most common Criminal Justice System offence codes were for which custodial sentences of between (a) 14 days and six months and (b) six months and 12 months were handed down by courts in England and Wales in (i) 2021-22 and (ii) 2022-23; and how many sentences of those lengths were handed down in relation to each offence code.

The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of custodial sentences issued for criminal offences, broken down by sentence length, in the Outcomes by Offence data tool.

However, sentence length is not specifically broken down in the tool to identify those between 14 days and 6 months, and therefore this information is provided in Table 1 for calendar years 2021 and 2022, the most recently published periods. The requested information for custodial sentences of more than 6 months and up to 12 months is available in the tool linked above. Data for calendar year 2023 will be published in May 2024.

Our long-term plan to use prisons better will keep the most dangerous offenders behind bars for longer while reforming short term prison sentences. As part of the measures recently announced by the Lord Chancellor, we will legislate for a presumption that custodial sentences of less than twelve months in prison will be suspended, and offenders will serve their sentences in the community instead. This will cut crime and lead to fewer victims.

Sentencing remains a matter for the independent judiciary and sometimes a short custodial sentence is the right and just option. So prolific offenders unwilling to comply with community orders or other orders of court will continue to feel the full force of our justice system.