Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what discussions she is having with the Ministry of Justice on expanding the Unduly Lenient Sentencing Scheme to include victims of technology-assisted child sexual abuse.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Protection of Children Act 1978 already includes ‘pseudo’ images of children within the definition of indecent images. Therefore, any sexualised images of children produced by AI will already be covered by the legislation surrounding indecent images, and consequently already fall within ULS scheme.
Asked by: Lola McEvoy (Labour - Darlington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the relevance of mental health conditions to the sentencing of people convicted of child sexual abuse.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Sentencing decisions are a matter for our independent courts, following any relevant sentencing guidelines, issued by the Sentencing Council. Sentencing guidelines are designed to increase consistency and transparency in sentencing.
The Council has issued a package of guidelines on sexual offences, as well as an overarching guideline to assist courts when sentencing offenders with any mental disorder, neurological impairment or developmental disorder. These are available on its website at: https://sentencingcouncil.org.uk/guidelines/crown-court/.
As the Deputy Prime Minister mentioned during Justice Oral Questions on 16 December, I will bring your particular concerns to the attention of the Chair of the Council.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of sentencing outcomes in grooming gang cases.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This Government recognises the profound harm caused by grooming gangs and is committed to ensuring that victims receive justice, support and redress through a robust and victim centred justice system that brings all perpetrators of this heinous crime before the courts.
My Department continues to assess and improve court processes to ensure they are effective and responsive in all cases, including those involving grooming gangs. Where possible, judges prioritise serious sexual offences, and cases involving vulnerable complainants and witnesses. HMCTS staff support the delivering of fair and efficient hearings, with special measures available to vulnerable and intimidated witnesses. Recent reforms include new powers to compel offenders to attend sentencing hearings and enhanced training across the justice system to ensure victims are treated with fairness and dignity.
The Government acknowledges the impact of delays in the justice system on victims, and Sir Brian Leverson continues to lead a comprehensive review of the criminal courts to deliver swifter justice. In the meantime, we have increased funding to ensure Crown Courts operate at their highest capacity in nearly a decade, 110,000 sitting days, and doubled magistrates’ sentencing powers.
Victims are supported through Independent Sexual Violence Advisers (ISVAs) during court proceedings. Also, the Ministry of Justice funds the CSA Centre to develop evidence-based training and resources to professionals across the voluntary statutory sector workforce, as well as continuing to invest in specialist support services via the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund that awards ringfenced grants to Police and Crime Commissioners. Additionally, the Home Office has invested £1.6 million in the Support for Victims and Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse Fund and an extra £1.6 million for national services for adult victims.
To support victims in seeking redress, we are removing the three-year limitation period for civil claims in cases of child sexual abuse. The Government is also working to improve awareness of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme through campaigns and consultations.
Parliament has legislated for robust custodial sentences for child sex offences, though sentencing decisions are made by independent courts. Recognising the severity of grooming, the Government has introduced legislation through the Crime and Policing Bill to make grooming an aggravating factor in sentencing for child sexual offences, ensuring this behaviour is appropriately reflected in sentencing outcomes.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Justice on the length of prison sentences for people convicted of offences in connection with paedophile rings.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Home Office Ministers have regular discussions with their counterparts across Government, including the Ministry of Justice, on measures to tackle the heinous crime of child sexual abuse and exploitation and ensure perpetrators face the full force of the law.
Through the Crime and Policing Bill, the Government is legislating to make grooming a statutory aggravating factor in the sentencing of child sexual offences. This will include (but is not limited to) offences committed by individuals involved in grooming gangs.
Where a sentencing court concludes that a child sex offence was involved or was facilitated by grooming behaviour, it will be obliged to treat this as an aggravating factor, for which a more substantial penalty is accessible.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will ask the Sentencing Council to increase custodial sentences for people convicted of procuring child abuse images.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The maximum sentences available for criminal offences are set by Parliament and, for possession of indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of a child, the maximum sentence is 5 years’ imprisonment. For distributing, making or taking indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of a child, the maximum sentence is 10 years’ imprisonment.
The independent judiciary will determine the appropriate sentence in individual cases within the maximums set by Parliament, and in line with any relevant sentencing guidelines issued by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales.
Sentencing guidelines provide courts with guidance on factors that should be considered, which may affect the sentence given. The relevant guideline for possessing, distributing, and producing indecent child images can be found here: Possession of indecent photograph of child/ Indecent photographs of children – Sentencing
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if her Department will provide sentencing data by (a) ethnicity and (b) nationality to the hon. Member for Great Yarmouth's private inquiry into grooming gangs.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of offenders sentenced, which can be filtered to specific offences and broken down by defendant ethnicity. This can be obtained in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, which can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.
However, data held centrally does not include an offender’s nationality. This information may be held on court records but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate cost.
Data held centrally includes details of sexual grooming offences but does not identify if this was gang related. Gang related sexual grooming offences are not identifiable separately as there is no single offence code to specifically cover offences related to gangs.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a review of sentencing guidelines for people convicted of grooming-gang offences.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
Child sexual abuse and exploitation are the most horrific of crimes and the Government is determined to act to strengthen the law in this area. We have committed to legislate to make grooming an aggravating factor in the sentencing of child sexual offences, to ensure that this behaviour is reflected in the sentencing of perpetrators. We will also make it a mandatory duty for those working with children to report child sexual abuse – a key recommendation of Professor Alexis Jay’s report – and this will go into the Crime and Policing Bill due to be introduced to Parliament this spring.
Sentencing guidelines are developed by the independent Sentencing Council for England and Wales, in fulfilment of its statutory duty to do so. The guidelines produced provide the Court with guidance on factors that should be considered, which may affect the sentence given. They set out different levels of sentence based on the harm caused and how culpable the offender is.
Sentencing guidelines for child sex offences, including for the offence of meeting a child following sexual grooming, were first published by the Council in 2013. Following consultation, revised guidelines for some child sex offences were published in May 2022. As an independent body, the Council decides its own work plan and priorities.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions her Department has had with the independent Sentencing Council for England and Wales on the adequacy of sentencing guidelines for child sexual offences in (a) reflecting the severity of the crime and (b) preventing reoffending.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
Child sexual abuse and exploitation are the most horrific of crimes and the Government is determined to act to strengthen the law in this area. This is why we have committed to legislate to make grooming an aggravating factor in the sentencing of child sexual offences, to ensure that this behaviour is reflected in the sentencing of perpetrators. We will also make it a mandatory duty for those working with children to report child sexual abuse – a key recommendation of Professor Alexis Jay’s report – and this will go into the Crime and Policing Bill due to be introduced to Parliament this spring.
As set out in previous responses, the Sentencing Council for England and Wales is independent of Parliament and Government. It therefore decides on its own priorities and work plan for producing and reviewing sentencing guidelines. Sentencing guidelines for child sex offences, including for the offence of meeting a child following sexual grooming, were first published by the Council in 2013. Following consultation, revised guidelines for some child sex offences were published and came into force in May 2022.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of requesting the Sentencing Council for England and Wales produce guidelines on the sentencing of grooming gangs.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
Child sexual abuse and exploitation are the most horrific of crimes and the Government is determined to act to strengthen the law in this area. This is why we have committed to legislate to make grooming an aggravating factor in the sentencing of child sexual offences, to ensure that this behaviour is reflected in the sentencing of perpetrators. We will also make it a mandatory duty for those working with children to report child sexual abuse – a key recommendation of Professor Alexis Jay’s report – and this will go into the Crime and Policing Bill due to be introduced to Parliament this spring.
As set out in previous responses, the Sentencing Council for England and Wales is independent of Parliament and Government. It therefore decides on its own priorities and work plan for producing and reviewing sentencing guidelines. Sentencing guidelines for child sex offences, including for the offence of meeting a child following sexual grooming, were first published by the Council in 2013. Following consultation, revised guidelines for some child sex offences were published and came into force in May 2022.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of custodial sentences for child sexual offences in preventing reoffending.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
Child sexual abuse and exploitation are the most horrific of crimes and the Government is determined to act to strengthen the law in this area. This is why we have committed to legislate to make grooming an aggravating factor in the sentencing of child sexual offences, to ensure that this behaviour is reflected in the sentencing of perpetrators. We will also make it a mandatory duty for those working with children to report child sexual abuse – a key recommendation of Professor Alexis Jay’s report – and this will go into the Crime and Policing Bill due to be introduced to Parliament this spring.
As set out in previous responses, the Sentencing Council for England and Wales is independent of Parliament and Government. It therefore decides on its own priorities and work plan for producing and reviewing sentencing guidelines. Sentencing guidelines for child sex offences, including for the offence of meeting a child following sexual grooming, were first published by the Council in 2013. Following consultation, revised guidelines for some child sex offences were published and came into force in May 2022.