Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times (a) he, (b) Ministers of his Department and (c) officials of his Department have met with representatives of the Sentencing Council to discuss sentencing for child cruelty offences in the last 18 months.

Ministers meet the Chairman of the Sentencing Council regularly to discuss a range of issues related to sentencing. The Sentencing Council meets on a monthly basis to discuss matters relating to sentencing and guidelines and a representative of the Lord Chancellor attends those meetings. Officials in the MoJ also meet regularly with members of the Office of the Sentencing Council and discuss a wide range of issues.

The Sentencing Council has published a definitive guideline for child cruelty offences, which came into force on 1 January 2019.