The Sentencing Act 2026 (Commencement No. 3) Regulations 2026

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations bring into force specified provisions of the Sentencing Act 2026 (“the 2026 Act”).

Regulation 2 brings into force section 21, 34, 36 38, 39, and Schedule 5 of the 2026 Act. Section 21 places a duty on the Secretary of State to publish an annual report on prison capacity and repeals a duplicative duty in section 5 of the Prison Act 1952(1). Section 34 and Schedule 5 amend the provisions in the Criminal Justice Act 2003(2) and the Sentencing Act 2020(3) relating to supervision after the end of a sentence.

Section 36 removes the requirement for offenders to perform the hours imposed under an unpaid work requirement within a 12 month period. Sections 38 and 39 introduce a new process for termination of community orders and the supervision period of suspended sentence orders. These will now end on completion of all court-ordered requirements and the offender’s sentence plan.

Regulation 3 brings into force section 42 of the 2026 Act. Section 42 amends section 31 of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997(4) to allow offenders serving IPP or DPP sentences to request that the Secretary of State refer their case to the Parole Board to consider licence termination. Section 42 also makes provision to reduce the qualifying period for referring a prisoner who is serving an IPP sentence to the Parole Board for consideration of licence termination. This section provides an early opportunity for licence termination and aligns the IPP sentence with the DPP sentence.

An impact assessment has not been produced for this statutory instrument as no impact, or significant impact, on the private, voluntary or public sectors is foreseen.

(1)

1952 c. 52.

(2)

2003 c. 44.

(3)

2020 c. 17.

(4)

1997 c. 43.