Responding to today’s publication of David Gauke’s sentencing review, Tom Franklin, chief executive of the Magistrates’ Association, said:
“The Magistrates’ Association welcomes the report of the Independent Sentencing Review. It promises a fresh approach to sentencing, which is undoubtedly needed to deal with the crisis in the criminal justice system.
“We are pleased that many of our proposals have become recommendations in the report, including our call for a system-wide shift that empowers courts with flexible and creative tools to address offending at its roots, for example we have suggested more use of football banning orders and driving disqualifications.
“We welcome the presumption against short custodial sentences of less than 12 months, as we have long said that they are counter-productive for many offenders and rarely effective in reducing reoffending – which is why for magistrates, custody is already a last resort.
“It is also worth bearing in mind that the proportion of people in custody on short sentences has fallen significantly over the past decade: the number of short sentences of less than 12 months with immediate custody fell from 59,665 in 2014 (64 per cent of all immediate custody sentences) to 43,723 in the year to June 2024 (58 per cent). We are pleased that the Independent Review has accepted our point that short custodial sentences should still be retained for magistrates to use when all other suitable options have run out – for example, for domestic abuse cases or for especially prolific offenders who persistently refuse community options like unpaid work orders.
“The review calls for a far greater reliance on tagging offenders in their community, and we hope that the extra £700 million secured by the Ministry of Justice for 30,000 extra tags, also includes funding to boost probation staffing and resources – because without this, the initiative will fail. Extra resourcing for probation would also give magistrates more alternatives to custody, and support more creative and targeted sentencing options, that we and others have called for.
“We look forward to working with the government, as they look to implement the report’s recommendations.”
