— This significantly revised guideline aims to make sure that the courts have comprehensive information on the offender, offence and sentencing options. It places greater emphasis on pre-sentence reports (PSRs) as "pivotal" in sentencing decisions, provides more information on requirements of community and suspended sentence orders, and has extra information about specific circumstances. After publication and prior to implementation the Justice Secretary asked for removal of the list of cohorts for whom a pre-sentence report will normally be considered necessary, on the basis that to treat differently those "from an ethnic minority, cultural minority, and/or faith minority community" would be to create a "two-tier" sentencing approach, but the Sentencing Council refused in Orwellian terms, implying without explicitly stating that PSRs make no difference to custody decisions. The relevant cohorts are those at risk of a first custodial sentence, young adults, females, minorities (as above), pregnant or postnatal women, sole or primary carers and "if the court considers that one or more of the following may apply to the offender: has disclosed they are transgender; has or may have any addiction issues; has or may have a serious chronic medical condition or physical disability, or mental ill health, learning disabilities (including developmental disorders and neurodiverse conditions) or brain injury/damage".
Full details available at: https://www.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/Sentencing_Council,_%27Imposition_of_community_and_custodial_sentences_-_Effective_from_1_April_2025%27_(5_March_2025)?id=060325-0935