Sentencing Bill: motion to disagree with Lords Amendment 7

On 20 January 2026, the Commons voted 319 to 127 to reject Lords Amendment 7 to the Sentencing Bill, which would have required Crown Court sentencing remarks to be provided to victims free of charge within 14 days, subject to judicial approval, and published online. Instead, the Commons backed the government's own amendments in lieu, which provide transcripts free of charge to victims who request them within 14 days, but without the requirements for judicial sign-off of every transcript or mandatory online publication. The practical effect is that victims gain a statutory right to receive a free transcript of the sentencing remarks in their case, something previously unavailable to most victims outside a limited pilot covering murder, rape, and other serious sexual offences. The government argued its version advances transparency and supports victims in digesting judgments outside the courtroom, while also avoiding the additional judicial workload that a duty to approve and publish every transcript would impose on courts already facing a backlog of 77,000 to 78,000 cases. The vote divided almost entirely along party lines. All 315 Labour and Labour and Co-operative Party MPs who voted backed the government. All 100 Conservatives who voted opposed the motion, alongside five Reform UK MPs, four Plaid Cymru MPs, four Greens, five Democratic Unionist Party MPs, two Your Party MPs, and one Ulster Unionist. The Liberal Democrats, speaking through Jess Brown-Fuller, expressed support for the government's amendments in lieu as a welcome first step. There were no Conservative votes for the government position and no Labour votes against it.