Sentencing Act 2026 Timeline

Royal Assent

The Sentencing Act 2026 received Royal Assent.

legislation.gov.uk

Sentencing Council guideline amendments

Definitive sentencing guidelines republished to align with the SA 2026.

sentencingcouncil.org.uk

Suspended sentences, deferment, whole life orders & SOPC expansion

• Presumption to suspend custodial sentences of 12 months or less.
• Maximum suspended sentence raised from 2 to 3 years.
• Deferment of sentence extended from 6 to 12 months.
• Automatic whole life order for murder of a police, prison or probation officer in the course of duty.
• SOPC expanded to national security and official secrets offences.
• Domestic abuse marker introduced (s.6).
• Purpose of sentencing amended to reference victims.

Fixed Term Recall (56 days) begins

• 14/28-day FTR replaced by a fixed 56-day FTR for eligible adult SDS recalls.
• Staggered roll-out through 12 May 2026 for those already on recall, by sentence length band.

Earned Progression Model & related changes

• SDS automatic release moves to one-third (from 40%).
• SDS+ / s.244ZA automatic release moves to one-half (from two-thirds).
• Home Detention Curfew (HDC) removed for adult SDS.
• IPP/DPP licence termination: qualifying period reduced from 3 to 2 years; further applications permitted after 1 year continuous on licence.
• Early Removal Scheme (ERS): minimum custodial period removed.
• Four new licence conditions become available: Driving Prohibition, Public Event Attendance Prohibition, Drinking Establishment Entry Prohibition, GPS-tagged Restriction Zone.
• Independent Adjudicator additional-days cap doubled from 42 to 84 days per incident.