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<p>On 14 October, the Government laid a draft statutory instrument (SI) that will
mean offenders sentenced to a standard determinate sentence of at least 7 years for
specified serious sexual and violent offences will serve two-thirds of their sentence
in custody, rather than being released halfway. If approved by Parliament, this change
will come into effect from April 2020.</p><p> </p><p>Alongside the SI we published
a full impact assessment. The impact on the prison population will be felt gradually.
We estimate that the prison population will increase by around 2,000 places over 10
years, i.e. by March 2030.</p><p> </p><p>This is the first step in a package of sentencing
reforms which will be brought forward in a Sentencing Bill, announced in the Queen’s
Speech. The Government has been clear that violent and sexual offenders must serve
sentences that truly reflect the severity of the crime – helping to protect the public
and giving victims confidence that justice has been served.</p><p> </p><p>The full
impact assessment is available at:</p><p> </p><p><a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2019/9780111190524/resources"
target="_blank">http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2019/9780111190524/resources</a></p>
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