Justice secretary set for showdown with judges over sentencing guidelines
Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood is set for a confrontation with the Sentencing Council later this week after they wrote to her warning her against 'dictating' to judges over new measures which she fears will create a 'two tier' legal system.
A spokesperson for Ms Mahmood has confirmed that a meeting is set to go ahead with the Sentencing Council on Thursday where she will make clear her displeasure at new guidance which could lead to lighter sentences for some based on ethnicity and gender.
The Labour minister is in rare agreement with her right wing Tory shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick who raised the issue last week after the Sentencing Council ignored the views of ministers from the previous government to go ahead with the new guidelines.
But after expressing her own disapproval of the guidelines, the Sentencing Council, which is independent of government, angrily put down Ms Mahmood's objections this week and rejected claims it was creating a 'two tier system'.
New guidance for judges to consider a criminal's ethnicity before deciding their punishment prompted Ms Mahmood to write to the independent body to make clear her "displeasure" and call for the changes to be reconsidered.
The Sentencing Council published new principles for courts to follow when imposing community and custodial sentences, including whether to suspend jail time, last Wednesday.
The updated guidance, which comes into force from April, says a pre-sentence report would usually be necessary before handing out punishment for someone of an ethnic, cultural or faith minority, alongside other groups such as young adults aged 18 to 25, women and pregnant women.
Ms Mahmood wrote: "A pre-sentence report can be instrumental in assisting courts in the determination of their sentence. But the access to one should not be determined by an offender's ethnicity, culture or religion."
In a letter to Lord Justice William Davis, chairman of the Sentencing Council for England and Wales, Ms Mahmood said she was considering whether policy decisions such as this should be made by the Sentencing Council and what role MPs should play.
But Lord Justice Davis replied that the Sentencing Council preserves the "critical" position of the independent judiciary in relation to sentencing.
He said: "I respectfully question whether the inclusion of a list of cohorts in the imposition guideline was a policy decision of any significance.
"However, whatever the import of the decision, it is related to an issue of sentencing."
He further warned: "In criminal proceedings where the offender is the subject of prosecution by the state, the state should not determine the sentence imposed on an individual offender.
"If sentencing guidelines of whatever kind were to be dictated in any way by ministers of the Crown, this principle would be breached."
The council's chief said he was taking legal advice on whether the Justice Secretary's power under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 to ask for guidelines to be revised could be applied in this circumstance, and if it could, it will be considered at the body's next meeting.
"This is not a power which ever has been used to ask the council to revise a guideline immediately after it has been published and which has been the subject of detailed consultation with the Lord Chancellor," Lord Justice Davis said.
Ms Mahmood had said "no minister" in this government approved of the guidance or was involved in the consultation.
The previous government was also consulted on the change during the consultation period between November 2023 to February 2024.
Lord Justice Davis said in response that there were 150 responses to the consultation on the new guidance, including from the then-minister for sentencing, with "no concern expressed about the term now under debate".
Of the new guidance, the chairman added there is "good evidence" of a disparity in sentence outcomes between white offenders and those of an ethnic minority for some offences.
"Why this disparity exists remains unclear," he said.
"The council's view is that providing a sentencer with as much information as possible about the offender is one means by which such disparity might be addressed.
"I do not accept the premise of your objection to the relevant part of the list of cohorts for whom a pre-sentence report will normally be considered necessary.
"I have seen it suggested that the guideline instructs sentencers to impose a more lenient sentence on those from ethnic minorities than white offenders. Plainly that suggestion is completely wrong."
But Ms Mahmood had support from the influential think tank Policy Exchange.
David Spencer, head of crime and justice at Policy Exchange said: 'The Sentencing Council's letter to Shabana Mahmood is remarkable.
'The chair rejects call to amend the guidelines – and defends prioritising Pre-Sentence Reports for ethnic minority criminals.
'The Justice Secretary cannot let this stand. There is no place for two-tier justice.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
The thin blue line? Yvette Cooper STILL holding out over funding for 'broken' police with barely 48 hours until Rachel Reeves unveils spending plans up to next election
Haggling over Labour 's spending plans is still raging with barely 48 hours until Rachel Reeves unveils the package. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is yet to settle with the Treasury amid bitter squabbling over police and borders funding. The Chancellor is due to lay out departmental allocations running up to 2029 - the likely timetable for the next general election - on Wednesday. But the generous fiscal envelope set at the Budget last Autumn has been put under massive pressure by the economic slowdown, calls for more defence cash, and Labour revolts on benefits. Ms Reeves has been signalled she will announce real-terms increases to budgets for police as she tries to quell Home Office resistance. However, that is likely to be offset by cuts to other areas, with the NHS and defence sucking up funding. The political backdrop to the proposals this week is the Reform surge, with Labour panicking about the challenge from Nigel Farage. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is yet to settle with the Treasury amid bitter squabbling over police and borders funding Touring broadcast studios this morning, Technology minister Chris Bryant denied the review will mark a return to austerity. But he acknowledged some parts of the budget will be 'more stretched'. He told Times Radio: 'That period of austerity where I think previous governments simply cut all public service budgets just because they believed that was what you had to do is over. 'But, secondly, we are investing, but it's not just about spending money, you have to get return, and that means we have to have change and we have to have a plan for change in every single one of our public services.' He pointed to increased investment in defence and health, but added: 'There are going to be other parts of the budget that are going to be much more stretched and be difficult.' Ms Reeves will have some £113billion to distribute that has been freed up by looser borrowing rules on capital investment. But she has acknowledged that she has been forced to turn down requests for funding for projects she would have wanted to back in a sign of the behind-the-scenes wrangling over her spending review. Economists have warned the Chancellor faces unavoidably tough choices in allocating funding for the next three years. She will need to balance manifesto commitments with more recent pledges, such as a hike in defence spending, as well as her strict fiscal rules which include a promise to match day-to-day spending with revenues. The expected increase to police budgets comes after two senior policing figures publicly warned that the service is 'broken' and forces are left with no choice but to cut staff to save money. Nick Smart, the president of the Police Superintendents' Association, and Tiff Lynch, acting national chairman for the Police Federation of England and Wales, said policing was in 'crisis'. In a joint article for the Telegraph, they said: 'Police forces across the country are being forced to shed officers and staff to deliver savings. These are not administrative cuts. 'They go to the core of policing's ability to deliver a quality service: fewer officers on the beat, longer wait times for victims, and less available officers when crisis hits.' The Department of Health is set to be the biggest winner in Ms Reeves' spending review on Wednesday, with the NHS expected to receive a boost of up to £30billion at the expense of other public services. Meanwhile, day-to-day funding for schools is expected to increase by £4.5billion by 2028-9 compared with the 2025-6 core budget, which was published in the spring statement. Elsewhere, the Government has committed to spend 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product on defence from April 2027, with a goal of increasing that to 3 per cent over the next parliament – a timetable which could stretch to 2034. Ms Reeves' plans will also include an £86billion package for science and technology research and development.
STV News
2 hours ago
- STV News
SNP calls on Labour to match Scottish Government action on poverty
Almost two million families would be lifted out of poverty if Labour matched Scottish Government action on the issue, the SNP has claimed. Ahead of the UK spending review, the SNP asked the House of Commons Library to produce an independent analysis on the number of British children in poverty and the impact that replicating Scottish Government policies across the UK would have. The research showed 1.83 million families would be lifted out of poverty if policies were matched, including abolishing the two-child benefit cap, scrapping the bedroom tax and raising the child element of Universal Credit to match the Scottish child payment, according to the SNP. Statistics showed a third of British children were anticipated to be living in poverty by 2029-30 unless action was taken. Sir Keir Starmer was urged to act on the figures ahead of the UK spending review on Wednesday amid warnings the number of British children living in poverty is expected to rise to a record 4.6 million by 2029-30. Over the past decade, the number of children living in poverty has risen from 3.7 million (27%) in 2013/14 to 4.5 million (31%) in 2023/24, the SNP said. The SNP said Scotland is the only part of the UK where child poverty is falling, due to 'bold' policies such as the Scottish child payment of £27.15 per child, per week, paid in addition to other benefits. Replicating it UK-wide, by raising the child element of Universal Credit by the same amount, would lift 732,000 families out of poverty, including a further 38,000 families in Scotland, analysis showed. The SNP said it has also mitigated the bedroom tax and is in the process of ending the two-child benefit cap in Scotland. It said replicating the policies would lift a further 609,000 British families out of poverty, with the combined impact of introducing all three policies lifting 1.83 million families out of poverty, including a further 75,000 in Scotland. The UK Government delayed its child poverty taskforce review to the autumn and last year Labour MPs voted against abolishing the two-child benefit cap, in a motion tabled by the SNP. The Chancellor has previously rejected proposals to abolish the bedroom tax. The SNP said the UK Government's own impact analysis showed planned cuts to disability benefits will push 250,000 more people into poverty, including 50,000 children, with families losing out on £4,500 a year on average as a result of the cuts, branding it 'shameful'. SNP work and pensions spokeswoman Kirsty Blackman MP said: 'The evidence shows Keir Starmer's Labour Government is keeping almost two million families in poverty by failing to match SNP action across the UK. 'It's shameful that UK child poverty is rising to record levels under the Labour Government, which has pushed thousands more children into deprivation by imposing punitive welfare cuts. 'It's vital that the Prime Minister finally listens to families struggling with the soaring cost of living – and takes the long-overdue action needed to end child poverty at the UK spending review this week. 'That means abandoning the devastating austerity cuts to disabled families, matching the Scottish child payment UK-wide, abolishing the bedroom tax and scrapping the two-child limit and benefit cap. 'With 4.5 million children living in poverty in the UK, only bold and immediate action will do. 'The two-child benefit cap and bedroom tax must be abolished immediately, but that alone isn't enough to end child poverty. It's vital the Labour Government matches the Scottish child payment by raising the child element of Universal Credit across the UK. 'Scotland is the only part of the UK where child poverty is falling – and families receive the best cost-of-living help of anywhere in the UK. 'Westminster must match this action – or it will leave millions more children languishing in poverty.' A UK Government spokesperson said: 'We are determined to bring down child poverty and we have already expanded free breakfast clubs, increased the national minimum wage for those on the lowest incomes, uprated benefits in April and supported 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a fair repayment rate on universal credit deductions. 'We will also publish an ambitious child poverty strategy later this year to ensure we deliver fully funded measures that tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty across the country.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Daily Record
2 hours ago
- Daily Record
Hamilton, Larkhall & Stonehouse by-election: full results
Labour gained the seat with a majority of 602, with the SNP and Reform coming second and third. Labour won the Hamilton, Larkhall & Stonehouse by-election with a majority of 602 and claimed 31.5 per cent of the vote to send Davy Russell to Holyrood as the constituency's new MSP. SNP candidate Katy Loudon was second with 7957 votes. The party had been aiming to retain the seat held for the past 14 years by respected local politician and Scottish Government minister Christina McKelvie, who died in March aged just 57. Reform – contesting only their second election in South Lanarkshire following last year's Westminster poll in which they were a distant fourth – were third with candidate Ross Lambie gaining 7088 votes, 26.88 per cent of the ballots cast and just 1471 adrift of the winner. Both of the runners-up are serving South Lanarkshire councillors; as is fourth-placed candidate Richard Nelson of the Conservatives, who picked up 1621 votes. The full results, declared at the council's headquarters in Hamilton at 1.30am on Friday by returning officer Paul Manning, were – Davy Russell, Labour: 8559 Katy Loudon, SNP: 7957 Ross Lambie, Reform: 7088 Richard Nelson, Conservative: 1621 Ann McGuinness, Green: 695 Aisha Mir, Liberal Democrat: 533 Collette Bradley, Scottish Socialist Party: 278 Andy Brady, Scottish Family Party: 219 Marc Wilkinson, independent: 109 Janice MacKay, UKIP: 50 Turnout: 44.2 per cent Rejected papers: 46 Total votes: 27,155 Electorate: 61,485
