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<p> </p><p> </p><p>When the courts impose a driving ban and a custodial sentence at
the same time, they already make some allowance for the length of time that the offender
would normally serve in prison before becoming eligible for release, in order to ensure
that disqualification has the desired impact. There are provisions in the Coroner's
and Justice Act 2009 which will give this statutory force. These will be commenced
in due course.</p><p> </p><p>We want to make sure that road traffic offenders face
the full consequences of the punishment for their offence. When an offender commits
a serious road traffic offence that attracts both a custodial sentence and disqualification
from driving, it is essential for public confidence in the criminal justice system
that the driving ban has full effect on the offender; he should not benefit from,
in effect, a reduction in the length of the ban whilst he serves time in prison. These
provisions will ensure that, as now, the court will determine the appropriate length
of the ban for the purposes of the offence but it will then be required to extend
the ban to take account of time to be spent in prison. This will ensure that there
is consistency of action in every case and that driving bans bear equally on all offenders.</p><p>
</p><p>The Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database holds information on defendants
proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and
Wales. This database holds information on offences provided by the statutes under
which proceedings are brought but not the specific circumstances of each case. This
centrally held information records the period of disqualification into one of thirteen
bands. As the exact length of driving ban is not available, it is not possibly to
identify how many offenders received a driving ban alongside a prison sentence of
a longer length. This detailed information may be held on the court record but due
to the size and complexity is not reported centrally to the MoJ. As such, the information
requested can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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