Miscellaneous amendments to sentencing guidelines

The Sentencing Council holds an annual consultation on miscellaneous amendments in which we consider potential changes to guidelines arising from various sources including case law, changes to legislation and feedback from sentencers.

2024-2025

In response to the consultation, the Council made amendments to a number of sentencing guidelines the majority of which come into effect on 1 June 2025.

The amendments, which apply to magistrates’ courts and Crown Court, were made to improve clarity, reflect legislation and respond the. The changes include:

  • New guideline for the offence of using or keeping heavy goods vehicle if levy not paid
  • Careless driving: revising factors in the guideline so that they align with the newer guidelines for causing death and causing serious injury by careless driving and dangerous driving and replacing the reference to ‘pedestrians’ with ‘vulnerable road users’ (in effect 1 July 2025)
  • Drive otherwise than in accordance with a licence: adding wording to the guideline to clarify how it applies to offenders who are entitled to a licence but do not hold one
  • Assistance to the prosecution: adding a dropdown to guidelines summarising the approach to be taken
  • Sentencing very large organisations: adding some guidance on sentencing very large organisations to relevant guidelines to encapsulate the approach set out in case law on setting the level of fines for a very large organisation.
  • Revenue fraud: adding a sentence table for offences where the maximum sentence has increased from 7 years to 14 years
  • Totality: adding further guidance on imposing a determinate sentence where there is an existing sentence and providing guidance on imposing a new community order alongside an existing order

List of all changes made on 1 June 2025 (pdf)
Standard wording in guidelines for publication as at 30 May 2025

The fourth consultation on miscellaneous amendments to sentencing guidelines opened on 5 September 2024 and closed on 27 November 2024.

2023-2024

In response to consultation, the Council made amendments to a number of sentencing guidelines to come into effect on 1 April 2024.

The amendments, which apply to both magistrates’ courts and Crown Court, were made to improve clarity, reflect legislation and respond to recommendations in the Domestic Homicide Sentencing Review. The changes include:

  • amendments and additions to mitigating factors and their associated expanded explanations across sentencing guidelines. These include replacing the existing reference to pregnancy in the ‘Sole or primary carer’ factor with a dedicated factor for pregnancy, childbirth and post-natal care
  • changes to the manslaughter guidelines relating to strangulation and coercive control
  • amendments to the Fraud guideline to give more recognition to the impact on victims even where there is no or very little financial loss, and
  • amendments to the guideline for sentencing individuals for fly-tipping and other environmental offences to give greater emphasis to community orders over fines

List of all changes made on 1 April 2024 (pdf)

The third consultation on miscellaneous amendments to sentencing guidelines opened on 7 September 2023 and closed on 30 November 2023.

2022-2023

Following a consultation in 2022, the Council made amendments to a number of sentencing guidelines on 1 April 2023.

The amendments, which apply to both the magistrates’ courts and Crown Court, were made to improve clarity and reflect changes in legislation. They include:

  • clarification of wording relating to disqualification in magistrates’ court motoring offences guidelines and related explanatory materials;
  • changes to the guidelines for criminal damage to take account of the legislative change relating to memorials;
  • amendments to the wording regarding minimum sentences in bladed article, drug and burglary offences guidelines; and
  • additional wording for the unlawful act manslaughter guideline relating to the required life sentence for an offence committed against an emergency worker.

List of all changes made on 1 April 2023

The second consultation on miscellaneous amendments opened on 7 September and closed on 30 November 2022.

2021-2022

Following a consultation in 2021, the Council made amendments to a number of sentencing guidelines on 1 April 2022.

The amendments relate to:

  • breach of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO): clarifying that when the court is dealing with such a breach, it does not have a standalone power to make a fresh order or to vary the order;
  • compensation: adding wording relating to giving reasons if compensation is not awarded in all relevant guidelines;
  • confiscation: providing fuller information on confiscation in all relevant guidelines;
  • racially or religiously aggravated offences: making the uplift for racial/ religious aggravation a separate step and consistent across guidelines for these offences; and
  • domestic abuse overarching guideline: revising the definition of domestic abuse in the light of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 and expanding it to include a wider range of relationships.

List of all changes made on 1 April 2022

The first consultation on miscellaneous amendments opened on 9 September and closed on 2 December 2021.

Related documents

To support the guidelines and consultations, the Council publishes a range of documents.

Related documents: Miscellaneous amendments