Published on:
5 September 2024
Miscellaneous amendments to sentencing guidelines: consultation 2024
A consultation paper on miscellaneous amendments to sentencing guidelines.
The consultation closed on 27 November 2024.
What was this consultation about?
The Sentencing Council sought views on a series of proposed changes to existing guidelines in the fourth 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 and case law. 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 would 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, we sought views on the following.
Matters relevant primarily to magistrates’ courts:
- Supplementary information: new guidance on setting a fine for those on a variable income
- New guideline for the offence of using or keeping heavy goods vehicle if levy not paid
- Careless Driving: revising the guideline to change the factors to align with newer guidelines and replace reference to ‘pedestrians’ with ‘vulnerable road users’
- Drive otherwise than in accordance with a licence: add clarification to the guideline regarding offenders who are entitled to a licence but do not hold one
- Allocation guideline: various changes including changing the name of the guideline; updating the legislative references; changing ‘youths’ to ‘children’; clarifying wording relating to community orders; adding a reference to the Criminal Practice Directions in the Committal for sentence section; and providing additional information by way of an Annex
Matters relevant to magistrates’ courts and the Crown Court:
- Sentencing children and young people guideline: changing references to ‘children and young people’ to ‘children’ in both the title of this (and other guidelines relating to sentencing under 18s) and in the text of all sentencing guidelines; and adding a reference to sentencing young adults at the beginning of the guideline
- Assistance to the prosecution: adding a dropdown to guidelines summarising the approach to be taken.
- Sentencing very large organisations: adding some guidance on sentencing very large organisations to relevant guidelines
- Revenue fraud: adding a sentence table for offences where the maximum sentence has increased from 7 years to 14 years.
- Standard language in guidelines: establishing a standard form of wording in guidelines
- Totality: adding further guidance to the Totality guideline
- Shop theft and Benefit fraud guidelines: adding an expanded explanation to the mitigating factor ‘offender experiencing exceptional hardship’
- Wording relating to community orders in guidelines: clarifying the wording relating to sex offending and adding a note relating to committal to the Crown Court
- Wording on mandatory minimum sentences: adding a reference stating where the burden of showing that exceptional circumstances exist lies
- Domestic abuse: changing the name of the overarching guideline, rewording the aggravating factor in offence specific guidelines and adding that factor to more guidelines