Research reports

This roundup summarises some of the research work recently undertaken or commissioned by the Council.

This literature review brings together the evidence on the effectiveness of sentencing from the perspectives of offenders, the general public, victims and sentencers.

In the Sentencing Council’s strategic objectives for 2021-2026  we made a commitment to “explore how the Council’s expanded explanations are being interpreted and applied by sentencers in practice”. This qualitative research report reviews how selected aggravating and mitigating factors, and their accompanying expanded explanations, were identified and interpreted by the judges and magistrates who took part.

In the Sentencing Council’s strategic objectives for 2021-2026 we made a commitment to explore how guideline users access, use and interact with the sentencing guidelines on our website.

The Sentencing Council has an overarching objective to promote a fair approach to sentencing, thus placing equality, diversity and inclusion at the heart of our work

Public knowledge of and confidence in the criminal justice system and sentencing: 2022 reports on research carried out to provide insight into the public's attitudes to, and understanding of, the criminal justice system and sentencing.

The Sentencing Council has published a review that brings together evidence on the effectiveness of different sentencing options on reoffending.

The Totality guideline is applied by the courts when sentencing an offender either for multiple offences or when they are already serving a sentence. To find out how the guideline is working in practice, the Council carried out a survey and series of interviews with sentencers.

As part of its tenth anniversary year, the Council undertook to investigate its impact in three key areas, and this involved conducting a series of analytical projects. These summary reports contain the main findings from each of these projects.

This report contains findings from statistical analysis of data from the Crown Court Sentencing Survey, investigating the association between a range of sentencing factors and offender demographics and the sentence imposed, in England and Wales.

The Sentencing Council has a statutory duty to have regard to the need to promote public confidence in the system when developing the sentencing guidelines and monitoring their impact. To achieve this, the Council must have an understanding of the public’s attitude to, and knowledge of, sentencing and the criminal justice system.

Research to support the development of the reduction in sentence for a guilty plea guideline.

A study to examine the sentencing data available in magistrates’ courts to support the future development, monitoring and evaluation of sentencing guidelines.

Research to support the development of dangerous dog offences sentencing guidelines.

Research to support the development of robbery sentencing guidelines.

Research to support the development of health and safety offences, corporate manslaughter, food safety and hygiene offences sentencing guidelines.

Research to support the development of theft offences sentencing guidelines.

Research to support the development of fraud, bribery and money laundering offences sentencing guidelines.

Research to support the development of a guideline on sentencing environmental offences.

Research to support the development of a revised sexual offences sentencing guideline.

Qualitative research, carried out by NatCen Social Research, exploring the nature and impact of online fraud in relation to two specific fraud offences: confidence fraud and possessing, making or supplying articles for use in fraud.

Research into attitudes to sentencing sexual offences from a group of the public and victims/survivors was conducted on behalf of the Sentencing Council for England and Wales by NatCen Social Research.

Research into the effects of the draft drug offences guideline on sentencing practice.

Research into the sentencing of dangerous dog offences in order to inform the development of a guideline for these offences.

At the request of the Lord Chancellor, the Sentencing Council considered the resource effects of proposed changes to Suspended Sentence Orders (SSOs) contained in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill.

Research into public attitudes to guilty plea sentence reductions was conducted on behalf of the Sentencing Council for England and Wales by Ipsos MORI.

This document describes the key features emerging from case study interviews carried out by the Office of the Sentencing Council with a small number of women currently imprisoned for unlawful importation of drugs (many acting as drug 'mules').

Qualitative research into public attitudes to sentencing for drug offences was conducted on behalf of the Sentencing Council for England and Wales by the Institute for Criminal Policy Research.