Commenting on the new Sentencing Act, Tom Franklin, Chief Executive of the Magistrates’ Association, said:
“The Sentencing Act is now law, having received Royal Assent, but this is very much the beginning of a long and gradual process to implement it – involving stakeholders from across the criminal justice system over the next two years.
“We have been involved throughout, from the initial stages of David Gauke’s Independent Review of Sentencing. We cautiously welcomed the Sentencing Bill back in September, but warned that magistrates would still need the discretion to impose short custodial sentences as a last resort. We’re pleased that it is specified in the Act that magistrates can refuse to suspend a sentence in exceptional circumstances relating to the offence or offender, as well as where there is a serious risk posed to the public. This recognises the importance of preserving judicial discretion. However, magistrates will require clear guidance in identifying exceptional circumstances in practice, and the confidence to refuse a suspended sentence where such circumstances genuinely apply.
“We also said that success would depend on the Probation Service being adequately resourced and able to ‘keep its eye on the ball’ – a functioning probation service being critical to improving the credibility of both tagging and community orders. Also, in June 2025, the government pledged £700 million extra funding for Probation, and reiterated it this week, and we expect this to start to visibly increase the capacity of Probation, as their work is vital to the smooth delivery of justice in the magistrates’ courts.”
