Presumption to suspend short sentences comes into force
People who receive a custodial sentence of 12 months or less are more likely to have the sentence suspended by the court from today.
This follows the introduction of a presumption to suspend short sentences by the provisions of the sentencing act 2026.
It has long been recognised that short sentences do more harm than good and that community orders are more effective at reducing reoffending. The Ministry of Justice’s own evidence shows that reconviction rates are lower for people on community orders than short sentences, and the positive impact is even more marked for people with mental ill-health.
The presumption is one of a number of measures introduced by the legislation to reduce demand on prisons and address the prison capacity crisis.
Vital to their success will be ensuring sufficient investment and support for probation to ensure it can rise to the opportunity of a more community-based justice system.
Other provisions which came into force today include:
- Income reduction orders (s.3)
- Purposes of sentencing (s.4)
- Extension of deferment of sentence (s.5)
- Offenders of particular concern (s.7-9)
- Whole life orders for murder of police, prison or probation officer (s.11)
- Sentencing Council changes (s.19–20)
- Scrapping of SoS power to appoint law enforcement members to Parole Board (s.40)
- Increase to release point for repatriated offenders serving fixed term sentences for murder from 1/3rd to 2/3rds (s.41)
- High Court referral for Parole Board decisions for unconditional release in certain life sentence cases (s.43)
Provisions relating to recall will come into force from 31 March. It is expected that changes to the release point on standard determinate sentences introduced by the legislation will be enacted in the autumn.
The Prison Reform Trust has published a new, accessible advice guide on the Sentencing Act 2026 to help people in prison — and those supporting them — understand the implications of this significant piece of legislation.
