The result from the feed is:
The Conservatives have called for the government to reverse planned changes which would make the ethnicity or faith of an offender a bigger factor when deciding whether to jail them. The Sentencing Council, which issued the new guidance for England and Wales, is independent and ministers do not currently have the power to overrule it. But shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick told the BBC if necessary the law should be changed so the government could do so. Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has said she will write to the council to “register my displeasure” and recommend reversing the change, after the Tories accused her of overseeing “two-tier justice”. As someone who is from an ethnic minority background myself, I do not stand for any differential treatment before the law for anyone of any kind, she said. There will never be a two-tier sentencing approach under my watch. The Sentencing Council said the updated guidance would ensure courts had the most comprehensive information available to hand out an appropriate sentence and could address disadvantages faced within the criminal justice system. Official figures show that offenders from ethnic minorities consistently get longer sentences than white offenders for indictable offences. The updated sentencing guidance, which is due to come into force from April, places a greater emphasis on the need for pre-sentence reports for judges. Pre-sentence reports give judges details on the offender’s background, motives, and personal life before sentencing – then recommend a punishment and what would work best for rehabilitation. But over recent years their use has decreased. Magistrates and judges will be advised to get a pre-sentence report before handing out punishment for someone of an ethnic or faith minority – alongside other groups such as young adults, abuse survivors, and pregnant women. These factors are not an exhaustive list, the council said. A pre-sentence report can still be necessary if an individual does not fall into one of these cohorts. However, Jenrick said this was a “blanket approach” that in many cases could lead to lesser sentences for certain groups.
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