Sentencing Bill: Third Reading

Parliament passed the Sentencing Bill at its Third Reading on 29 October 2025, by 321 votes to 103. The bill had cleared all its Commons stages and now moved to the Lords for scrutiny. The result was never seriously in doubt, with the government commanding a large majority, but the size of the opposition bloc reflected sustained Conservative and Reform UK resistance. The bill makes substantial changes to how courts sentence offenders and how prisoners are released. It creates a presumption that custodial sentences of 12 months or less should be suspended rather than served immediately, extends the ceiling for suspended sentences from two to three years, and resets the point at which standard-sentence prisoners are released. It also removes the minimum period foreign national prisoners must serve before being deported, abolishes Post Sentence Supervision, and introduces new ministerial oversight of the Sentencing Council, requiring joint sign-off from the Lord Chancellor and the Lady Chief Justice before guidelines take effect. The bill primarily affects England and Wales, with some provisions applying UK-wide for national security offences. All 274 Labour MPs and 29 Labour and Co-operative MPs voted in favour, joined by all four Plaid Cymru MPs, all four Green MPs, two Liberal Democrats, and a handful of independents and smaller-party MPs. All 93 voting Conservatives and all seven voting Reform UK members voted against. Seventy Liberal Democrats had no vote recorded. The Conservatives and Reform UK argued the bill was too lenient on offenders; some Labour backbenchers used the debate to press for assurances against privatisation of probation and community service. The bill was passed at the same sitting as Report Stage, where a Conservative new clause on parenting orders for parents of young offenders was defeated 170 to 328.