Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Sentencing Council's publication entitled Comprehensive new guidance on imposing community and custodial sentences, published on 5 March 2025, if she will provide examples that would constitute a cultural minority.

The Sentencing Council has issued new guidance which the last Government was consulted on between November 2023 and February 2024, and then publicly welcomed.

The Lord Chancellor has been clear that these guidelines do not represent the views of this Government, and she has asked the Council to reconsider them.

The Lord Chancellor and the Chairman of the Sentencing Council have since had a constructive discussion. It was agreed that the Lord Chancellor will set out her position more fully in writing, which the Sentencing Council will then consider before the guideline is due to come into effect.