The Sentencing Council business plan 2022/23 sets out the work the Council aims to undertake in the year to March 2023 to meet our statutory objectives and the objectives we set ourselves in our five-year strategy.

Our aims include the publication of:

• revisions to the sexual offences guidelines to take account of recent case law
• a new guideline for sexual communication with a child
• revised burglary guidelines
• revised terrorism guidelines
• new guidelines for perverting the course of justice and witness intimidation

We also aim to develop and consult on the following draft guidelines:

• new and updated guidelines for motoring offences and aggravated vehicle taking offences
• new guidelines for underage sale of knives
• a new animal cruelty guideline and revisions to the existing one
• new guidelines for immigration offences

The business plan also includes information on the work we will do to monitor and evaluate the operation and effect of sentencing guidelines which, this year, will include an evaluation of the expanded explanations and reviews of how we conduct our resource assessments and how we might access more data to support the Council’s work.

The actions we aim to take to meet our strategic objective to improve public knowledge and understanding of sentencing are also included in the business plan, including the major, high-profile project to develop You be the Judge, an online, interactive guide to sentencing.

Update November 2022

The following update summarises changes to the published business plan, in particular to the timing of the publication of consultations and definitive guidelines.

Update to Sentencing Council Business Plan 2022/23