The Sentencing Act 2026, which received royal assent on 22 January 2026, has introduced key changes to various areas of the sentencing regime, including standard determinate sentence (SDS) release points, recall periods, and maximum suspendable terms. This update highlights the Act’s key changes, with a specific focus on the provisions with direct consequences for the sentencing of children and young people.
Details
Key changes for children and young people
Perhaps the Act’s most significant change for young adults is the introduction of a presumption to suspend a sentence of 12 months or less for detention in a Young Offender Institution given to offenders who are aged at least 18 but under 21 at the point of conviction (s.1(2), inserting s.264A in Sentencing Code). Listed exceptions include where the offence was committed while the young adult was subject to a statutory supervision order (including a Referral Order, Detention and Training Order or Youth Rehabilitation Order), or where the court is re-sentencing the young adult for an offence in respect of which they are or have been subject to such an order.
The Act makes significant changes to the special custodial Sentence for Offenders of Particular Concern (SOPC) under section 7. A Sentence for Offenders of Particular Concern (SOPC) is the mandatory custodial sentence for offenders convicted of specified Schedule 13 terrorism or national security offences where custody is required but the criteria for a life sentence or an extended sentence are not met. Previously, the SOPC regime applied principally to specified terrorism offences. The Act extends the regime to include certain offences involving or connected with a threat to national security listed in the new Part 3 of Schedule 13 to the Sentencing Code. Offenders sentenced to a SOPC are not eligible for release before serving two-thirds of the custodial term. Release after that point is at the discretion of the Parole Board; if release is not directed earlier, the offender is released at the end of the custodial term before serving the statutory licence period.
Since this change has been explicitly extended to offenders who were children (under 18)at the time of conviction, the provision consequentially amends the Crown Court sending provisions for children in section 51A(3)(ba) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. The Sentencing Council has now amended the sentencing children and young people guideline (in section 6) to reflect this change.
The Act also removes the additional period of supervision that could previously apply after a Detention and Training Order (DTO) had ended known as “post sentence supervision”. This does not affect the licence period, which remains part of the DTO and continues to apply during the second half of the sentence which is spent in the community under supervision by the YJS.
Key changes limited to adults only
There are a number of key changes to the sentencing regime for adults from which children are excluded. These include:
- New automatic release points for Standard Determinate Sentences (“SDS”, s.20/s.23): Although adults now have earlier automatic release points at the one-third and halfway points, automatic release will remain at the halfway point for youth sentences given under section 250 of the Sentencing Code or section 91 Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000). The same position applies where an individual turns 18 while serving a youth sentence.
- Early release on home detention curfew is preserved for those serving youth sentences, even though it has been removed for offenders serving adult SDS under section 26.
Children were also excluded from the Act’s changes to the recall regime (s.30-33) since the Act preserves youth recall periods of 14/28 days (whilst adults are now subject to a 56-day recall regime). Where, however, an individual turns 18 while serving a youth sentence, this does not by itself mean that the new adult regime for fixed-term recall will apply. Where the individual is also serving an SDS received as an adult, however, the new adult (56-day) recall regime will apply. Furthermore, a “relevant young offender” (a person serving a sentence under the aforementioned sections 250 or 91) must be re-released automatically after recall where they are 18 or over, serving a sentence under 12 months, have not been recalled on account of a charge with a serious offence, and are not being managed at MAPPA level 2 or 3.
Commentary
While many of the Sentencing Act 2026’s headline reforms are designed to reduce the use of custody (particularly short sentences), the picture among the provisions affecting children and young persons specifically is more mixed. Although the presumption to suspend detention sentences for young adults may go some way toward reducing the population of young persons in custody, a wider scope of SOPC offences has the potential to expand children and young persons’ custodial exposure.