Question follow-through · 100765
Prison Sentences
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to Answer of 9th December 2025 to Question 96041, on Reoffenders: Sentencing, what assessment he has made of how frequently courts depart from sentencing guidelines on the basis that it is in the interes
About this written question
A written question asks a government minister for information in writing. Parliament publishes the question and any answer.
- Answering body
- Ministry of Justice
- Tabled
- 16 Dec 2025
- Target answer date
- 18 Dec 2025
- Answer
- 23 Dec 2025 · 7 calendar days after tabling
Elapsed calendar days describe the record timeline, not whether Parliament considers an answer on time.
More questions by this MP on Justice and policing
- Magistrates' Courts · 17 Dec 2025
- Trials · 17 Dec 2025
- Sexual Offences: Foreign Nationals · 17 Dec 2025
- Prisoners: Foreign Nationals · 17 Dec 2025
- Sexual Offences: Foreign Nationals · 17 Dec 2025
Shared topic keywords suggest a connection; they do not establish a follow-up.
Votes on this topic
- Opposition Day: Early release of prisoners · 7 Jul 2026
These Commons divisions share a topic label. The question did not necessarily lead to a vote.
Recorded timeline
16 Dec 2025
Question tabled
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to Answer of 9th December 2025 to Question 96041, on Reoffenders: Sentencing, what assessment he has made of how frequently courts depart from sentencing guidelines on the basis that it is in the interes
18 Dec 2025
Target answer date
Date supplied by the official written-questions record.
23 Dec 2025
Answer published
All sentencing courts in England and Wales must follow any sentencing guidelines which are relevant to the offender’s case, unless it is in the interests of justice not to do so (by virtue of section 59 of the Sentencing Code). Whilst there is a high bar ...
Official data retrieved 28 Sept 2026.
Later records
Possible follow-up questions
Strong links require the same MP, department and exact heading. Other same-department questions are shown as unreviewed candidates, not as confirmed follow-ups. No debate link is asserted unless a stable source relationship exists.
Magistrates' Courts
17 Dec 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the capacity of magistrates’ courts to handle additional triable-either-way cases.
Trials
17 Dec 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of increased trials without juries on the number of judicial review applications.
Sexual Offences: Foreign Nationals
17 Dec 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign national sex offenders have been convicted in each year since 2020.
Prisoners: Foreign Nationals
17 Dec 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign nationals currently serving custodial sentences for sexual offences are held in prisons in England and Wales.
Sexual Offences: Foreign Nationals
17 Dec 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign nationals who were convicted of sexual offences were given suspended custodial sentences in each year since 2020.
Crimes of Violence and Sexual Offences: Foreign Nationals
17 Dec 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign nationals convicted of sexual offences have been convicted of (a) a further sexual offence and (b) other violent offences after release from custody in the UK in each year since 2020.
Trials
2 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in what proportion of trials juries reached a not guilty verdict in each year since 2020.
Trials
2 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in what proportion of trials without a jury was a not guilty verdict given in each year since 2020.
Civil Proceedings: Legal Costs
2 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the judgment in R (on the application of PACCAR Inc and others) v Competition Appeal Tribunal and others [2023] UKSC 28 as of 26 July 2023, what recent assessment his Department has made of the
Civil Proceedings: Legal Costs
2 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the judgment in R (on the application of PACCAR Inc and others) v Competition Appeal Tribunal and others [2023] UKSC 28 as of 26 July 2023, what recent assessment his Department has made of the
Youth Justice: Standards
2 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what evidence his Department has that culturally sensitive and anti-racist youth justice programmes funded by the Youth Justice Board deliver sustained, long-term reductions in reoffending beyond initial pilot ph
Youth Justice: Ethnic Groups
2 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the extent to which judicial decision-making, rather than youth justice practitioner assessments, accounts for disparities in custodial remand outcomes for children of different eth