Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of proposals to increase the maximum sentence for coercive control beyond five years.

Controlling and coercive behaviour (CCB) is a particularly insidious form of domestic abuse and I recognise the devastating impact that it has on victims.

The Ministry of Justice has launched an Independent Review of Sentencing chaired by former Lord Chancellor, David Gauke, which is currently ongoing. The Review will specifically look at offences primarily committed against women and girls, and the Government is dedicated to ensuring that the harm caused by these devastating crimes is appropriately and proportionally reflected in the sentencing framework.

Separate to changes in sentencing, through the Victims and Prisoner Act 2024, offenders convicted of coercive or controlling behaviour, who are sentenced to 12 months or more, will soon be automatically managed under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). This change will place serious coercive or controlling behaviour offending on an equal footing with serious and/or violent offenders and create greater consistency in how these domestic abuse offenders are managed in the community. The extra monitoring of offenders, and restrictions which can be placed upon them, via MAPPA management will serve to reduce their risk of reoffending and give greater assurance of safety to previous victims in the coming months

Tackling VAWG in all its forms, including CCB, is a top priority for this Government.