Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of whether the current sentencing framework for mothers with children takes sufficient account of the needs of those children.

Caroline Dinenage

Sentencing guidelines are issued by the independent Sentencing Council. They are available on the Sentencing Council website. They confirm that the gender of the offender is irrelevant for sentencing purposes in accordance with Equalities duties. They also confirm that where the offender is the sole or primary carer for dependent relatives, this should be taken into account for sentencing purposes as a mitigating factor.