23/09/2025
Chris English
By Chris English
The UK Government has introduced the Sentencing Bill 2025. 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 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 22 May 2025 with the Lord Chancellor welcoming the recommendations and accepting the majority of them in principle.
Short prison sentences could soon become far less common and offences normally punished with 12 months or less in custody are now expected to be handled through community-based penalties.
The bill argues argue that short custodial sentences are costly, disruptive and often fail to prevent reoffending and the proposed changes are designed to reserve prison for offenders who pose the greatest risk whilst giving lower-level offenders a chance to remain in the community.
Electronic monitoring will also see a large expansion with up to 22,000 additional offenders a year being tagged with GPS devices, alcohol monitoring tools or curfew enforcement systems. Officials say this measure will increase accountability and allow offenders to continue living in the community under strict supervision.
Probation and parole arrangements are set for significant reform as the bill introduces a “progression model” that allows for more restrictive licence conditions for higher-risk individuals. Courts may also extend deferment orders from six months to 12 giving judges additional time to assess compliance with rehabilitation programmes before final sentencing. The intention of this is to make supervision more flexible and more understanding of individuals on a case by case basis.
While the Bill has been welcomed by many legal and criminal justice organisations there are still some concerns. As an example, probation services and electronic monitoring systems may struggle to cope with the scale of the planned expansion and if implementation is under-resourced, public safety may be compromised and these new resources could be viewed as wasted.
The reforms come at a critical time for the criminal justice system, we are all aware of prisons being overcrowded, extensive backlogs in the court system and probation staffing already facing capacity issues. Ministers argue that the Bill could make the system more sustainable, allowing serious offenders to remain in custody while community-based interventions handle lower-level crimes.
The legislation now moves through Parliament, where it will be closely scrutinised by lawmakers, legal experts and criminal justice professionals.
What are your thoughts on this sentencing bill and how will it affect your profession?