WIREDGOV

Our annual consultation on miscellaneous amendments to sentencing guidelines opened yesterday.

The Council is proposing a series of changes that are designed to bring greater clarity and consistency to guidelines and reflect developments in legislation and case law. These proposals include:

• Making changes to guidelines for two either-way offences:
  • Fraud – to add a reference to gain made or intended by the offender as part of the harm assessment
  • Strangulation or suffocation – to clarify the wording of the high harm factor
• Amending the Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea guideline to clarify that disqualification from driving is not subject to a guilty plea reduction.
• Changing the presentation and content of magistrates’ courts sentencing guidelines for non-imprisonable motoring offences and the introduction of several new guidelines for these offences, which would allow the Council to provide more detailed guidance, help sentencers and other court users distinguish between similar offences, and bring clarity over how the guidelines should be applied, when and to whom.

The consultation is open until 29 January 2026.