Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of giving extended sentencing powers for magistrates on a permanent basis.

The Government has always been clear that we needed flexibility to vary Magistrates’ Court Sentencing Powers, and that is why it took the power to do so last year in the Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022.

Since extending Magistrates’ Court Sentencing Powers in May 2022, we have been monitoring data to identify the impacts of the policy change, including increases in election and appeal rates.

We are currently experiencing downstream pressures in the criminal justice system, as manifested in Operation Safeguard, and it is important that the government ensures a cohesive cross-system response to this growing pressure. Whilst the increase to magistrates’ court sentencing powers is not the only factor behind this pressure, and our data on the impact is still limited, we believe it is safest to temporarily reduce magistrates’ court sentencing powers to 6 months so that the Crown Court retains power over decisions in respect of longer sentences.

It is nearly one year on from the implementation of the extended powers, and this pause gives us time to review the measure, taking into account how it is being used and assessing relevant data across the criminal justice system, with a view to reinstating the powers should this be supported by the evidence.

This change is no reflection on the magistracy or their use of the extended powers: the Government places immense value on the continuing and outstanding contribution of Magistrates to the justice system.