§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
When they last issued guidance concerning prisoners and sentences; whether this included remands in custody and the appropriate use of non-custodial sentences; and whether they will urgently consider new guidance; and [HL1569]
When they last issued guidance to the courts concerning prisoners and sentences; whether this included remands in custody and the appropriate use of non-custodial sentences; and whether they will consider issuing new guidance. [HL1672]
§ Baroness Scotland of AsthalThe Government do not issue guidelines to courts on sentencing. However, the Criminal Justice Act 2003 set up the Sentencing Guidelines Council to produce sentencing guidelines for all courts and one of its first tasks will be to produce guidelines on the new generic community sentence.
188WAMinisters made it clear in Reducing Crime—Changing Lives that they wish to see intensive community programmes replace ineffective short custodial sentences.
The reforms introduced through the Criminal Justice Act 2003 are designed to deliver greater consistency in sentencing, to provide robust alternatives to custody where appropriate and more effective delivery of interventions to reduce reoffending.