Policy paper

Sentencing Bill 2025

The government has introduced the Sentencing Bill into Parliament.

Documents

Sentencing Bill

Sentencing Bill impact assessment

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Sentencing Bill equalities statement

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Details

The Sentencing Bill enacts several of the recommendations of the Independent Sentencing Review (ISR) that require legislation.

The ISR was commissioned in October 2024 and was chaired by the Rt Hon David Gauke alongside a panel of experts, including a former Lord Chief Justice, and representatives from the police, prisons, probation and victims’ rights organisations.

The ISR published its findings on the 22 May 2025, and the Lord Chancellor welcomed the recommendations and accepted the majority of them in principle.

One of the principal aims of the Sentencing Bill is to place our prison system on a more sustainable footing going forwards. The Sentencing Bill represents an ambitious package of reforms to our criminal justice system. The Sentencing Bill makes significant changes to the sentencing framework, the way in which offenders are managed and serve sentences in the community, and crucially, it also aims to create a justice system that better serves victims. This landmark sentencing reform aims to ensure that prisons never run out of space again and delivers punishment that effectively reduces crime.

Updates to this page

Published 3 September 2025

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