---
title: "Consistency in sentencing"
ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-f7616dc7-c18b-4d55-ad1a-62c896d431b4"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-f7616dc7-c18b-4d55-ad1a-62c896d431b4"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-f7616dc7-c18b-4d55-ad1a-62c896d431b4.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-f7616dc7-c18b-4d55-ad1a-62c896d431b4.json"
source: "Contracts Finder"
current_stage: "Tender"
buyer: "MINISTRY OF JUSTICE."
published: "2017-12-20"
---

# Consistency in sentencing

Buyer: MINISTRY OF JUSTICE.  
Current stage: Tender  
OCID: ocds-b5fd17-f7616dc7-c18b-4d55-ad1a-62c896d431b4

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## Summary

The Ministry of Justice is conducting a tender titled "Consistency in sentencing," focused on enhancing consistency within the sentencing framework in England and Wales. This procurement falls under the services sector, specifically in research, consultancy, and social research. The tender period concluded on 16th November 2017, and the contract is set to commence on 4th December 2017, concluding on 30th March 2018. The procurement method adopted is an open procedure, and the contract value is set at £19,950. Responses to the tender needed to be submitted via the specified eSourcing portal.

This contract presents significant opportunities for businesses specialising in research and consultancy services, especially those with expertise in legal and social research methodologies. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community, and social enterprises (VCSEs) would be particularly well-suited to participate, given the project's requirement for a comprehensive analysis plan, data analysis, and report writing in accordance with specific guidelines. Successful participation may also lead to further collaborative opportunities in future government evaluations and projects.

## Notice

One of the Sentencing Council's key objectives is to promote greater consistency in sentencing. While there is no universally accepted definition of consistency in sentencing, the general concept is clear: similar offenders who commit similar offences in similar circumstances would be expected to receive similar sentencing outcomes. However, it is difficult to measure whether greater consistency has been achieved by the Council's guidelines. The Sentencing Council's aim is for guidelines to promote consistency of approach to sentencing. This consistency of approach should then lead to consistent outcomes where all of the facts of a case and offender circumstances are the same. Focusing only on final sentences would not provide an accurate picture of whether sentencing is consistent, as it would not be possible to tell whether the offences being compared are truly comparable. Additional information: - The following outputs will be required: * An analysis plan to guide the work; * Datasets, syntax and accompanying metadata, deliverable in SAS readable datasets; * An initial report detailing the different methods considered, including their strengths and limitations, and the final method/s chosen, with an explanation of the reasons for this (the method will then be agreed with the Sentencing Council, before going on to be applied to the guidelines); * A final report incorporating a full write-up of the methodology and the findings of all of the offences covered, explaining the extent to which consistency has been achieved by the guidelines; * A document detailing how to apply the method in future; * A presentation of findings/ a discussion meeting - at a date to be confirmed - will also be required and proposed costings should include this as one meeting. - Analysis and report writing should conform to GSS and Sentencing Council protocols. - The report from this work will be fed into wider evaluation work. This wider work will be published at the relevant time and credit given to the successful contractors for their role in the early data analysis. Two formal meetings will be required with the contractors during the contract: * An inception meeting to finalise the analytical design; * A meeting/ presentation to consider key findings. In addition, the successful contractor will be expected to attend the Sentencing Council's academic seminar, to be held jointly with The Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, on 1st December 2017. The contract will be only up to 30th March 2018 without any option for further extension. This project is commissioned by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales. We wish to commission a contract for developing a methodology for assessing consistency, and application of this methodology to select offences from three of the Council's existing guidelines, namely: * Domestic burglary (part of the Burglary Offences definitive guideline ); * Supply/ possession with intent to supply a controlled drug (part of the Drug Offences definitive guideline ), and; * Theft from a shop or stall (part of the Theft Offences definitive guideline ). The procurement exercise will run via the eSourcing portal https://ministryof justicecommercial.bravosolution.co.uk. If your organisation is not already registered then we advise you to register using the above link. Please submit your response using Project reference prj_1888 Consistency in sentencing ITT_1528 - Consistency in sentencing The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) requires tender documentation issued by government departments for contracts exceeding GBP 10,000 over the life of contract are published online at https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder for the general public. The contract awarded as a result of this procurement will be published on this website, subject to the statutory grounds for redaction as set out in the FOI Act 2000.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Contracts Finder |
| Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/a60cceb3-d6ef-46ea-a5f5-2ba3c0518d34 |
| Notice type | Tender Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Open procedure |
| Tender suitability | SME, VCSE |
| Awardee scale | Not specified |
| All stages | Tender |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 20 Dec 2017 |
| Submission deadline | 17 Nov 2017 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 4 Dec 2017 - 30 Mar 2018 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £19,950 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Active |
| Lots status | Not specified |
| Awards status | Not specified |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | MINISTRY OF JUSTICE. |
| Locality | LEEDS |
| Post town | Leeds |
| Postcode | LS2 7EH |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLE Yorkshire and The Humber |
| ITL 2 | TLE4 West Yorkshire |
| ITL 3 | TLE42 Leeds |
| Local authority | Leeds |
| Electoral ward | Hunslet & Riverside |
| Westminster constituency | Leeds South |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services
- 79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

### Codes

- 73110000 - Research services
- 73210000 - Research consultancy services
- 79315000 - Social research services

## Release History

- 20 Dec 2017 at 14:16 - TenderAmendment - Tender Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/a60cceb3-d6ef-46ea-a5f5-2ba3c0518d34
- 3 Nov 2017 at 16:07 - Tender - Tender Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/a60cceb3-d6ef-46ea-a5f5-2ba3c0518d34

## Documents

- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/a60cceb3-d6ef-46ea-a5f5-2ba3c0518d34
  20th December 2017 - Opportunity notice on Contracts Finder
- https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Burglary_Definitive_Guideline_web_final.pdf
  * Domestic burglary (part of the Burglary Offences definitive guideline)
- https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Drug_Offences_Definitive_Guideline_final_web1.pdf
  * Supply/ possession with intent to supply a controlled drug (part of the Drug Offences definitive guideline)
- https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/SC-Theft-Offences-Definitive-Guideline-content_FINAL-web_.pdf
  * Theft from a shop or stall (part of the Theft Offences definitive guideline)

## Notice URLs

- https://ministryof
- https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-f7616dc7-c18b-4d55-ad1a-62c896d431b4. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-f7616dc7-c18b-4d55-ad1a-62c896d431b4.json.
