A consultation paper on miscellaneous amendments to sentencing guidelines.

The consultation closed on 30 November 2022.

What was this consultation about?

The Sentencing Council sought views on a series of proposed changes to existing guidelines in the second annual miscellaneous amendments consultation.

The proposed changes, which apply to both the magistrates’ courts and Crown Court, are designed to bring greater clarity and consistency and reflect developments in legislation. The Council considers the changes to be significant enough to warrant consultation but not so significant that they require new guidelines to be drafted.

Who did we ask to respond?

We sought views from anyone who uses sentencing guidelines in their work or who has an interest in sentencing. We also sought views from individuals and organisations representing anyone who could be affected by the proposals, including:

• victims and their families;
• defendants and their families;
• those under probation supervision or youth offending teams/supervision;
• those with protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

What did we want to know?

Through this consultation process, the Council sought views on amendments that include:

• clarification of wording relating to disqualification in magistrates’ court motoring offences and related explanatory materials;
• changes to the guidelines for criminal damage to take account of the legislative change relating to memorials;
• amendments to the wording regarding minimum sentences in bladed article, drug and burglary offences; and
• additional wording for the unlawful act manslaughter guideline relating to the required life sentence for an offence committed against an emergency worker.