§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether criminal courts have discretion when imposing custodial sentences on offenders responsible for the care of children to delay the start of the sentence to allow time for the best possible interim care arrangements to be made for those children; and, if not, whether they will introduce legislation to create such discretion. [HL4925]
§ Baroness Scotland of AsthalThere is no power for courts to delay the start of a custodial sentence in order for offenders to make child care arrangements. However, intermittent custody, introduced by the Criminal Justice Act 2003 allows offenders to serve their prison sentence intermittently either during weekdays or weekends, so that offenders can maintain jobs, caring responsibilities and relationships that contribute to rehabilitation.
It is legitimate for a court, when deciding on sentence, to take into account the impact of a sentence on other people—including dependent children—as part of the overall picture.