Minister Announces Electronic Tag Backlog for Offenders Has Returned to “Normal Levels”

Lord Timpson, the government’s prisons minister, has announced that the accumulation of offenders requiring electronic tags “has now been reduced to normal levels.” This declaration follows reports from several probation officers to the BBC, indicating that in the past month, more than a dozen offenders were sent back to prison because electronic ankle tag fitters were unavailable. These individuals, according to the officers, had been granted early release under a government initiative designed to alleviate overcrowding in England and Wales. A probation officer commented: “It’s been a particular issue in the North East and North West, and the Midlands. It means extra work for us because if the tags can’t be fitted we have to increase our home visits and do all the paperwork for them to be sent back to prison”. The government initiated the early release of prisoners in September, with over 1,700 individuals initially released early in England and Wales. An additional 1,200 prisoners were released in October as part of this identical program. The justice secretary stated that this measure had prevented the prison system from reaching its maximum capacity and averted “a total breakdown of law and order”. However, the BBC reported that prisoners granted early release had not been equipped with electronic tracking devices, even though this was a stipulated condition of their release. Previously, Lord Timpson attributed the delays to Serco. Serco, in response, stated its efforts were focused on reducing the number of individuals awaiting tags. On Friday, Lord Timpson issued a statement, declaring: “In recent weeks I have been pushing Serco to sort the outstanding backlog in tagging offenders promptly. I am pleased to say this has now been reduced to normal levels.” “I will continue to hold Serco to account and will not hesitate to impose further financial penalties should its performance drop again”. Serco functions as the security contractor responsible for managing the prison tagging system. Nevertheless, probation staff reported this week that the government informed them the backlog of offenders requiring tags had reached “acceptable levels.” The government, however, has not provided a precise definition of this term. A probation officer questioned: “Does that mean 90% have been tagged or 50%? These problems have been going on for months and if they’ve just sorted the backlog, that doesn’t mean they’ve sorted the problem.“Our workload is at ridiculous levels already and we’re being expected to do stuff like breathalyse people because they haven’t got an alcohol tag. We shouldn’t be doing this”. A significant number of those released early were granted release on licence. In certain instances, this entails wearing an ankle tag to allow their movements to be monitored, ensuring compliance with a curfew or other imposed restrictions. A spokesperson for Serco stated: “We continue to work closely with MoJ and the Probation Service to deal with the increased volume of tagging following the early release scheme.“We have record numbers of staff fitting tags and are dealing with cases promptly, prioritising based on agreed risk profiles.” Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.