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<p>Whilst crime is falling, sentences are getting more severe. Under this Government
fewer individuals are entering the criminal justice system for the first time but
those who do offend are more likely to go to prison, and for longer.</p><p> </p><p>The
court has discretion as to how sentences should be served. The independent Sentencing
Council issued a guideline, <em>Offences Taken Into Consideration and Totality</em>,
which all courts must follow so that there is a consistency of approach. The guideline
says that there is no inflexible rule governing whether sentences should be structured
as concurrent or consecutive components but the overriding principle is that the overall
sentence must be just and proportionate.</p><p> </p><p>The general approach on whether
sentences should be served consecutively or concurrently as it applies to determinate
custodial sentences, is that concurrent sentences will ordinarily be appropriate where
the offences arise out of the same incident, or where there is a series of offences
of the same or similar kind. Consecutive sentences will normally be appropriate where
the offences arise out of unrelated facts or incidents, the offences are of a similar
kind but the overall criminality will not be sufficiently reflected by concurrent
sentences, or where one or more offences qualifies for a minimum sentence and concurrent
sentences would improperly undermine that minimum. The guideline deals in more detail
with various circumstances including where the offender is serving an existing custodial
sentence and is being sentenced to custody for another offence.</p><p> </p><p>The
information requested is complex and needs to be extracted from raw data, formatted
and checked. This will take some time and I will therefore write to my honourable
Friend as soon as it is available.</p>
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