Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the consistency of sentencing for people convicted of online fraud.

Guidelines on sentencing are produced by the independent Sentencing Council, which was established to promote greater transparency and consistency in sentencing while maintaining the independence of the judiciary. The Council published a definitive guideline on fraud, bribery and money laundering offences in May 2014. The Council has a statutory duty to monitor the operation and effect of its guidelines.

The most recent statistics on sentencing for fraud offences is available through the attached link. The courts database does not separate online and offline fraud offences.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2014