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10 January 2025
Adult court matters Wider justice system

The Magistrates' Association has submitted its response to the call for evidence to the government’s sentencing review. While we welcome this wide-ranging review, we’ve also raised some concerns.

The text reads: press release

The Magistrates’ Association – the membership body for magistrates in England and Wales – has submitted its response to the call for evidence to the government’s sentencing review, which was launched by David Gauke in October 2024. The MA’s response argues for action in three key areas: more constructive, flexible and creative sentencing options should be available; the capacity of the probation service to support more community-based options; and the need for the continuing availability of short custodial sentences.

Commenting on our response, Mark Beattie, national chair of the Magistrates’ Association, said:

“Our members hear cases in the adult criminal courts – as well as in the family and youth courts – every day and, while we welcome this wide-ranging review, we’ve also raised some concerns. In particular:

The need for more constructive, flexible and creative sentencing options. At the moment, within the existing sentencing framework, magistrates’ options are limited to fines (which can be evaded) or custody when community options aren’t available or aren’t viable.

“Magistrates should be able to apply other, practical alternatives to fines or custody, that would still be a deterrent to offenders while maintaining public confidence. For example, more use could be made of orders like driving disqualifications, travel restrictions, sexual harm prevention orders and football banning orders. Reducing the current three-year minimum term for some of these orders could increase their applicability in these cases.

The capacity of the probation service to support more community options. The probation service is under-staffed, resulting in significant delays in starting curfews, unpaid work orders and Mental Health Treatment Requirements (MHTR) – undermining their timely and effective implementation. In addition, weekend unpaid work placements – which are vital for those in full-time employment – are almost non-existent in many parts of the country.

“Probation has had to deal with a lot of change in the past five years, and while we’re pleased that the review recognises the pressures on the probation service, these pressures will only increase with any increased use of community alternatives to custody. There must be a robust and durable resourcing of probation to recruit more probation officers and help deliver on this.

Availability of short custodial sentences: For many offenders and offences, a short prison sentence is counter-productive, as it can often mean they lose their home and/or their job, and it’s very hard to do any sort of rehabilitation work when someone is in prison for a short time – which is why for magistrates, custody is a last resort. However, short custodial sentences are still a useful deterrent for offenders who persistently refuse community options like unpaid work orders – for example, they can be effective for prolific shoplifters. We would want to see this option retained for magistrates to use when all other suitable options have run out.

“This sentencing review is welcome, but the fact remains that criminal justice has been underfunded for at least the last decade, so for the review to achieve its aims, it must be supported by a long-term, sustainable and considered investment in the whole criminal justice system, from prisons to the courts, probation and legal aid. This review is another useful piece in the justice jigsaw, but there is still more to do.”

Our full consultation response can be found here.