Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2014, Official Report, column 425, on sentencing: females, which offences were classed within the miscellaneous crimes against society offence class for which female offenders aged 18 and over were sentenced to immediate custody for a first offence in England and Wales in (a) 2012 and (b) 2013; and how many people of each such ethnicity served what sentence length under each such offence.

Sentencing decisions are entirely a matter for the independent judiciary. All courts must also follow the sentencing framework and guidelines issued by the independent Sentencing Council, which apply equally to everyone. Any differences in sentencing outcomes may, therefore, occur for a number of reasons including the types of crimes committed and the seriousness of the offence.

The Criminal Justice System Strategy & Action Plan, published last summer, set out a number of commitments to promote equality including a series of Minister-led events with stakeholders to explore what more could be done. Further actions designed to promote equality are set out in an update to this plan, which was published recently. In addition, the Criminal Justice Board , which is Chaired by Minister Mike Penning and brings together senior leaders across the justice system, has discussed equality and diversity issues and regularly reviews the statistical data.

It has not been possible to provide the exact breakdown requested, as breaking down the ‘Miscellaneous crimes against society' offence class by individual offences, ethnic appearance and sentence lengths produced numbers that were too small to disclose. Therefore the following alternative breakdowns have been provided:

Table 1 (A) and (B) shows the number of female offenders aged 18 and above sentenced to immediate custody for a first offence within the 'Miscellaneous crimes against society' offence class by individual offence in England and Wales, 2012-2013.

Table 2 (A) and (B) shows the number of female offenders aged 18 and above sentenced to immediate custody for a first offence within the 'Miscellaneous crimes against society' offence class by sentence length and ethnic appearance in England and Wales, 2012-2013.