Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will review the effectiveness of short prison sentences and seek alternatives such as community sentences, electronic tagging and home curfew.

Sentencing is a matter for our independent judiciary, who decide whether a custodial sentence is justified and for how long, based on the law, sentencing guidelines and the circumstances of the case.

In order to improve the rehabilitation of those serving short custodial sentences, the Offender Rehabilitation Act (2014) introduced supervision on release for offenders serving under 12 months and we will continue to monitor the effect of these changes.