Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of sentencing guidelines for (a) rape and (b) murder; and what steps he is taking to ensure that these crimes receive the most severe punishments.

The independent Sentencing Council is responsible for the production and revision of sentencing guidelines, which the courts must follow, unless it would be contrary to the interest of justice. The Council also undertakes evaluation of the guidelines to ensure they are operating as intended.

Rape carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, and the average custodial sentence length for adults (aged 21 and older) increased from 99.5 months in 2010, to 114.3 months in 2021. The sentencing guidelines are clear that offences which involve the greatest harm and culpability can expect to attract the toughest sentences, for example where there has been a significant degree of planning or an abuse of trust.

Murder convictions attract a mandatory life sentence. Schedule 21 of the Sentencing Code sets out statutory guidance to be applied by the independent courts when setting the minimum term of imprisonment, at which point they may be considered for release on licence by the Parole Board.

The Government regularly reviews Schedule 21 and has expanded the list of whole life order (WLO) starting points through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 to include the premediated murder of a child and enabled judges to impose a WLO on those aged 18-20 in exceptional circumstances.

Furthermore, in 2021 the Government commissioned an independent expert, Clare Wade KC, to undertake a review of domestic homicide sentencing. The review was delivered to the department in June 2022 and prior to publication the Government is carefully considering its recommendations and next steps.