Statement - 03.09.2025

The long-awaited Sentencing Bill arrived in Parliament yesterday (2nd September), implementing much of David Gaukes Sentencing Review recommendations and attempting to fix a long-broken system. The Government has promised to end the prison crisis, however, for far too long promises to fix broken systems have failed our communities. The Traveller Movement intends to ensure any changes to the criminal justice system protect our communities and puts an end to their disproportionate representation in the criminal justice system.  

The Sentencing Bill seeks to expand the use of community sentencing and alternatives to custody, introduce a new earned progression model and a presumption against short sentences. All of these changes are welcome, if they are applied equitably.  

The reality of the criminal justice system remains; ethnic minorities experience disproportionate outcomes at every turn. This is particularly acute in sentencing outcomes, in 2022 ADRKUK and Action for Race Equality published research which found that ethnic minorities are more likely to be sent to Crown Court for trial, they are more likely to be remanded in custody, and if convicted they are more likely to receive a custodial sentence and a longer sentence length. This report also finds that these disparities cannot be explained away by legally relevant factors, even when you control for these factors there is an independent association between ethnicity and the likelihood of imprisonment.  

The Government has repeatedly promised to investigate and meaningfully tackle these disparities, and yet it has allowed one of the best chances in a generation to pass it by. Instead allowing a baseless argument about ‘two-tier justice’ to obscure the reality, the justice system is unequal, but that inequity is stacked against ethnic minorities. It is imperative that justice is handed down equitably, the Government must step in and ensure they follow their word and use this opportunity to tackle the persistent inequalities in our justice system, for all people.