Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of individual sentencing guidlines do not include the maximum sentence available to the court in the most serious offence range of the offence.
Sentencing guidelines are intended to ensure consistent and proportionate sentencing. The suggested range of sentencing in individual guidelines is intended to reflect current sentencing practice for the majority of offences of a particular type. Where there is a high statutory maximum, the range may not include the statutory maximum, as this was intended by Parliament to cover the worst possible case of the particular offence which is likely to fall outside the guidelines.
Each guideline has on the front page the statutory maximum for the offence in question.