Found: This measure also responds to one of the recommendations made by Clare Wade KC in the Domestic Homicide

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what the average tariff length in months for murder was in (1) 2022, and (2) 2023.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The information requested in PQ HL1418 can be found in the attached table.

The information requested in PQ HL1419 is set out as follows:

The average (mean) tariff for murderers (excluding whole life cases) sentenced in 2022 is 257 months and 2023 is 264 months. Tariff information for 2023 is a subset of data published on 25 January 2024. It is subject to change – please see information under Data sources and quality.

Data sources and quality

Note that the minimum term is the time between date of sentence and tariff expiry date. The numbers are subject to revision as more data become available; any changes in the numbers since the last publication of this information is as a result of more sentencing data becoming available.

The figures in these tables have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

The figures are rounded to the nearest whole number.

*2023 has some missing tariff information. This PQ response gives provisional information and is subject to change as more tariff information comes in.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the sentencing framework for perpetrators of coercive control.

Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The sentencing framework is kept under constant review by the Government. However, sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the independent courts in accordance with the sentencing guidelines, developed by the independent Sentencing Council.

The Government created the offence of Controlling and Coercive Behaviour in the Serious Crime Act 2015. Since the offence came into force in 2016, the number of people sentenced for this offence has consistently increased, nearing tenfold. The average custodial sentence length has also increased from 17.1 to 24.4 months.

In response to the independent Domestic Homicide Sentencing Review undertaken by Clare Wade KC, we have introduced legislation to create new statutory aggravating and mitigating factors for murders preceded by controlling and coercive behaviour.

The Sentencing Council have recently consulted on making a similar change to the manslaughter sentencing guideline. The Council have also introduced the Domestic Abuse Overarching Principles guideline, which came into force in May 2018. It identifies the principles relevant to the sentencing of cases involving domestic abuse, including the offence of controlling and coercive behaviour. The Council is planning to review this guideline in 2024.

Found: Clare Wade KC, Independent reviewer of domestic homicide sentencing.

Found: Clare Wade KC, Independent reviewer of domestic homicide sentencing.

Found: This measure should also be considered in conjun ction with 6 Clare Wade KC, 2023, Domestic Homicide

Found: Clare Wade KC, Independent reviewer of domestic homicide sentencing.

Found: Clare Wade KC, Independent reviewer of domestic homicide sentencing.

Found: Clare Wade KC, Independent reviewer of domestic homicide sentencing.

Found: Clare Wade KC, Independent reviewer of domestic homicide sentencing.

Found: Clare Wade KC, Independent reviewer of domestic homicide sentencing.

Found: Criminal Justice Bill, as part of reforms following recommendations made in Clare Wade KC’s Domestic Homicide

Found: Wade’s independent review looked at domestic homicide sentencing, and provided key recommendations for