Sentencing Bill: Third Reading

What happened: The House of Commons passed the Sentencing Bill at its Third Reading on 29 October 2025, by 321 votes to 103. Third Reading is the final stage in the Commons, representing a vote on the bill as a whole after all amendments have been considered. The bill passed comfortably, clearing the way for it to proceed to the House of Lords.

Why it matters: The Sentencing Bill makes wide-ranging changes to how courts sentence offenders and how the prison system operates. It introduces an earned progression model for release, reforms to short-term sentences, and measures aimed at tackling reoffending through rehabilitation and intensive supervision courts. The government argues the bill is necessary to address an acute prison capacity crisis, while also building what it describes as the largest prison expansion programme since the Victorian era. Critics argue it amounts to early release for serious offenders and weakens public protection.

The politics: The vote divided almost entirely along party lines. All 303 Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs who voted backed the bill, while all 93 voting Conservatives and all 7 voting Reform UK members opposed it. Smaller parties including Plaid Cymru, the Greens, and the Liberal Democrats largely voted in favour or abstained. The Conservatives and Reform UK framed their opposition around public protection and the risk of releasing dangerous offenders early, while the government defended the bill as evidence-based reform. The bill had already been subject to a series of contested votes at earlier stages, including a report stage division on 29 October where a Conservative new clause was defeated by 328 votes to 170.