Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Recommendation 13
13
Accepted in Part
Provide offenders, including children, with comprehensive information on sentencing and pre-sentence reports.
Recommendation
It is important that offenders understand the sentence they are to serve. Offenders should have ready access to information about the sentencing process, including information about pre-sentence reports at the earliest possible stage. Following sentencing, they should have ready access to information about what their sentence will look like in practice. Offenders, including child defendants, should be given a hard copy of their sentencing remarks. We look forward to the outcome of the pre-sentence reports pilots and encourage the Government to increase the proportion of cases that have access to pre-sentence reports. (Paragraph 71) Public opinion of sentencing
Government response summary AI-generated
The government outlines an ongoing ‘Pathfinder to Improved Pre-Sentence Advice’ (PIPA) project aimed at increasing the volume and quality of Pre-Sentence Reports. However, the response does not address providing offenders with ready access to general sentencing information or hard copies of sentencing remarks.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted in Part
40. Section 32 of the Sentencing Act 2020 sets out the position in relation to disclosure of pre-sentence reports. Defendants/ Offenders would generally have access to written pre- sentence reports, except a complete report need not be given where the offender is under 18 and the court is satisfied that disclosure of the report to the offender, or to their parent, or guardian, would likely create a risk of significant harm to the offender.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗