Written question asked by John Bercow (Conservative) on Friday, 4 November 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 8 November 2005. It was answered by Fiona Mactaggart (Labour) on Monday, 21 November 2005 on behalf of the Home Office.

Criminal Justice Act

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which of the sentencing provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 have (a) been implemented and (b) not been implemented.

Answer: All the provisions of part 12 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 have been commenced apart from: section 151, which provides the court with an additional discretionary power for dealing with persistent petty offenders; sections 154 and 155, which provide for an increase in magistrates courts powers when imposing custodial sentences; sections 161 and 266, which make some amendments to pre-sentence drug testing and drug testing for offenders released on licence and extend the provisions to those aged 14 and over; section 181, which introduces a new custodial sentence of less than 12 months (custody plus) and all related provisions to this new sentence; sections 280–283, which provide for consequential amendments to penalties in relation to the increase in magistrates courts powers; section 298, which is related to the increase in the maximum sentence for some summary-only offences from six months to 51 weeks; section 300, which provides for the court to impose unpaid work or curfew on fine defaulters as an alternative to prison; and section 301, which provides for the court to disqualify a fine defaulter from driving for a period of up to 12 months as an alternative to custody.Section 183, which provides for the new sentence of intermittent custody, has been commenced but the new sentence is being piloted and is only available at a number of specified courts.

Secondary information