The primary role of the Council is to issue guidelines on sentencing, which the courts must follow unless it is in the interests of justice not to do so. The Sentencing Council is an independent, non-departmental public body, but is under the umbrella of the Ministry of Justice.

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Given the Sentencing Council's role, given the political importance of Counter-Terrorism powers and the significance of the sentencing impact, one would have expected it to consult broadly on the topic.  After all, over the last 15 years, it has consulted on over 100 separate sentencing topics - roughly 6-7 a year - including such things as sentencing guidelines for hare coursing, dangerous dogs and animal cruelty. So one would have expected it to consult on any sentencing changes for offences relating to terrorism.

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-- Read more on Sentencing Council consultations --

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In fact it has consulted on terrorism sentencing more generally on three occasions, but none of them covered how "Terrorism Connection" should be factored into sentencing considerations:

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2017 - Terrorism Offences - Consultation - this initial consultation covered nine separate terrorist offences, including Preparation of Terrorist Acts, Explosive Substances, Encouragement of Terrorism, Membership / Support of a Proscribed Organisation, Funding Terrorism, Failure to Provide Information about Acts of Terrorism, Possession for Terrorist Purposes and Collection of Terrorist Information 

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2019 - Terrorism Offences - Consultation - this consultation was in response to the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019 which created a new offence of expressing an opinion or belief supportive of a proscribed organisation.  Again, it did NOT cover anything related to terrorism connection

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2021-2022 - Terrorism offences: Consultation (2) - this consultation covered a number of offences relating to preparation of terrorism acts, explosive substances and membership / support of proscribed organisations. Again, it did NOT cover anything related to terrorism connection

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Since January 2022 there has been no further consultant on terrorism sentencing, so the Sentencing Council has not carried out any consultation or review of the application of Terrorism Connection with regard to sentencing. Nothing on how it should be evaluated, nothing on the degree to which it should be treated as an aggravating factor, nothing on how "double-counting" should be avoided when considering it alongside other aggravating factors.

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In July 2026, Terrorism Law Watch submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Sentencing Council seeking any consultation papers, research, policy documents, correspondence or external advice relating to the operation of section 69 of the Sentencing Act 2020, the assessment of "serious property damage" in terrorism-related sentencing, and any engagement with government departments, prosecutors, insurers, Pool Re or academic experts on these issues. The Sentencing Council responded that it held no information within the scope of the request. The response is notable given the Council's extensive programme of public consultations on sentencing policy in other areas, raising important questions about which public body, if any, has undertaken consultation, research or policy development on the operation of these expanded terrorism sentencing powers.