Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will undertake a review of sentencing guidelines for causing serious injury by careless driving.

The Sentencing Guideline for the offence of causing serious injury by careless or inconsiderate driving was published by the Sentencing Council in June 2022 and came into force in July 2023.

The Council is independent of Parliament and Government. As an independent body, it decides on its own priorities and work plan for producing and reviewing guidelines. The Lord Chancellor or the Court of Appeal can ask the Council to consider guidelines in a particular area, but the Council is not required to agree to any such requests.

The Council monitors and evaluates all definitive guidelines, as per its statutory duty to do so. The assessment covers the operation and effect of the guideline. A report on the evaluation findings is published online.