Speaking in Parliament, James Wild MP has urged the Lord. Chancellor to take stronger action to ensure sentencing guidelines reflect laws passed by Parliament and criticised the government’s narrowly focused legislation to overrule the Sentencing Council.
His comments follows the paused "two-tier" guidance from the Sentencing Council, which proposed differential treatment for offenders from minority backgrounds. After pressure from the Shadow Justice Secretary, the government has introduced emergency legislation – the Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence reports) Bill.
However, James argued the government’s response is inadequate as it only tackles one issue, while broader issues such as draft immigration sentencing guidelines fall short of Parliament’s tougher penalties remain unaddressed.
James is calling for broader legislative powers to override sentencing guidelines that fail to uphold parliamentary intent and ensure justice is served consistently across all cases.
James Wild MP said:
“Why does the Lord Chancellor propose to take only a very narrow power in respect of the two-tier pre-sentencing reports rather than a general power, given that other guidelines and draft guidelines, including for immigration offences, are far below the levels agreed to by this Parliament? The Sentencing Council is ignoring policy determined by this House. What more evidence does she need to act, and to act now?”
The Lord Chancellor, Shabana Mahmood MP, replied:
“On the immigration guideline, I will correct something that the shadow Justice Secretary said earlier. Nothing in that guideline prevents the deportation of any foreign national offenders, and this Government have been getting on with the job, having deported more than 24,000 foreign nationals.
Our record on foreign national offenders is one of a 20% increase in removals this year compared with the same period last year.
I wanted to ensure that the guideline did not come into effect, and that is why I published the targeted Bill. I have acknowledged that there is a debate to be had about the wider role and powers of the Sentencing Council, which I will return to in the weeks and months ahead.”
