I am grateful to the Minister for that reply, although I think that burglary has increased more recently. When I raised the matter on 3 February, the Justice Secretary said that the Lord Chief Justice had issued

"very strong guidance to sentencers on burglary".—[ Hansard, 3 February 2009; Vol. 487, c. 697.]

He also said that there would be a "toughening up" of sentencing policy. However, the key points in that sentencing document include the following:

"Previous convictions and the record of an offender are of more significance than in the case of some other crimes."

What exactly does that mean? It seems like a weakening rather than a strengthening of sentencing policy.