Sentencing Act 2026: What You Need to Know

The new Sentencing Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 22 January 2026. This article seeks to help practitioners with everything they need to know about the changes the Act brings into force and when those changes will take effect.

Anthony James reviews the Sentencing Act 2026 and considers the key pending developments.

Key Changes

1. Three-year suspended sentences from 22 March 2026
2. Presumption to suspend sentences from 22 March 2026
3. Early release from Autumn 2026

Three-Year Suspended Sentences (section 2)

For all offenders aged over 18 who are convicted on or after 22 March 2026, Courts will have the power to impose up to three years custody suspended for three years.

Therefore, both the maximum sentence length and operational period have been extended. The operational period may only exceed two years if the length of the custodial element of the sentence exceeds two years. Accordingly, it would not be lawful to impose a sentence of two years suspended for three years.

The Act does not increase the maximum supervision period of two years i.e. the period during which an offender may remain under supervision from probation (save unpaid work which can continue until the end of the operational period).

It is perhaps worthy of note that the Act has substituted the words “2 years” for “maximum period” and then chosen to define the maximum period elsewhere. Whether this is to ease amendments to the definition of that maximum period in future legislation remains to be seen.

Presumption of Suspended Sentences (section 1)

For all offenders aged over 18 who are convicted on or after 22 March 2026, Courts must suspend all sentences of 12 months or less unless exceptional circumstances relating to the offence or offender justify not doing so. This power will be contained in the new section 277A of the Sentencing Act 2020.

There are however a considerable number of exceptions where the presumption does not apply.

Offender already in custody (s277A(3)(a)(b)(c))

Naturally, the presumption does not apply if the offender is already serving a sentence in custody, remanded in custody or detained under the Mental Health Act 1983.

Aggregate of consecutive sentences exceeds 12 months (s277A(3)(d))

The presumption does not apply if the Court is passing consecutive sentences that aggregate to greater than 12 months. Of course, provided the total sentence remains three years or less, the Court will still have the power to suspend.

Offender being re-sentenced (s277A(3)(e))

The presumption does not apply if the offence for which the offender is being sentenced, or an associated offence, is one in respect of which the offender was made subject to supervision and is being re-sentenced for that offence.

Offender was subject to supervision (s277A(3)(f))

Similarly, the presumption does not apply if the offence for which the offender is being sentenced, or an associated offence, was committed while the offender was subject to a supervision order such as a community order, referral order or suspended sentence. 

Offender has breached court order (s277A(3)(g))

The presumption also does not apply where the commission of the offence, or an associated offence, constituted or occurred in circumstances closely connected with, a breach by the offender of an order of the court. This presumably captures sentencing for offences that clearly represent breaches of a court order i.e. breach of restraining order but also offences which are not, in and of themselves, breaches of court orders i.e. witness intimidation or an assault committed in breach of bail.

Suspended sentence would put particular individual at significant risk (s277A(3)(h))

Finally, the presumption does not apply where the court is of the opinion that making the order would put a particular individual at significant risk of physical or psychological harm. Presumably this was intended to allow the Court to pass immediate custodial sentences in domestic abuse contexts among other situations.

Early Release from Autumn 2026 (section 23)

These parts of the Act have not yet been brought into the force. The Ministry of Justice said that “implementation will be phased over the next two years, with changes to how long offenders stay in prison when they are recalled expected to begin in the coming months, and the earned release model to be rolled out in the Autumn”.

Those offenders serving standard determinate sentences (i.e. not extended sentences) due to be released at the halfway point will automatically be released after serving one third of their sentence.

For offenders serving standard determinate sentences, where the current automatic release is at two-thirds, they will automatically be released at the halfway point. This applies to those sentenced to 4 years or more for specified sexual and violent offences in Schedule 15 Criminal Justice Act 2003.

There are no changes to release dates for those serving extended sentences. They will remain eligible to apply to the parole board at the two-thirds point of their sentences.

These changes will be implemented to fit into the new “earned progression” model of sentencing that involves three stages:

1. Custody stage – prisoners may be given extra days to serve for breaking prison rules (up to a maximum of 84 days per incident);  
2. Post-custody stage – intensive supervision under strict licence conditions;
3. At risk stage – not subject to active supervision.

The post-custody stage with earlier release replaces the Home Detention Curfew model (‘HDC’) that has been used for the past few years. Perversely this could mean offenders are released later than they would have been on HDC.

Example Sentences

Type of Sentence	Release
3 and a half years for ABH	33%
4 years for drug supply	33%
10 years for fraud	33%
4 years for assault by penetration (specified sexual offence in Part 2 Sch 15 CJA 2003)	50%
5 years for GBH with intent (specified violent offence in Part 1 Sch 15 CJA 2003)	50%
6 years for robbery (specified violent offence in Part 1 Sch 15 CJA 2003)	50%
Extended sentence following finding of dangerousness	Parole at 66%

Other Changes

Section 3 of the Act creates a new punitive requirement called an “income reduction order” which will require an offender as part of a suspended sentence to pay a percentage of “excess monthly income”, which will be calculated through a future instrument specified in the regulations.

Section 5 increases the duration over which a sentence can be deferred from 6 to 12 months.

Section 11 extends the starting point of a whole life order for the murder of police or prison officers to probation officers and police, prison or probation officers who are no longer working as such, where the offence was motivated by something done in their duty as such an officer.

Section 12 removes the requirement to specify the maximum number of Rehabilitation Activity Requirement (‘RAR’) days on an order. RAR days are now going to be called a “probation requirement” by dint of section 13.

Sections 14 to 17 create four new community order requirements:

• Driving prohibition requirement;
• Public event attendance prohibition requirement;
• Drinking establishment entry prohibition requirement; and
• Restriction zone requirement.

Section 32 increases the length of a standard recall from licence from 28 to 56 days.

Section 44 amends the Bail Act 1976 from 22 March 2026 so that the previous presumption in favour of bail where there was no real prospect of the defendant receiving a custodial sentence has been specifically extended to include offenders likely to receive suspended sentences.