Thousands of offenders not wearing electronic tags, report says

Tagged people are subject to strict conditions as part of their punishment.

This may include having to stay in a certain area or adhering to a curfew. If someone violates their conditions this could result in a formal warning, being taken back to court or being sent back to prison immediately.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Justice announced plans to significantly expand electronic monitoring under the Criminal Code 2026, which aims to ease prison pressures by managing more offenders in society.

Thousands more prisoners are expected to be released as part of the new law from autumn this year. Reports suggest murderers, rapists and sex offenders may be among them. Most will require labeling.

Some probation officers told the BBC they were worried about how to deal with the situation.

Probation officers are responsible for checking that offenders comply with the conditions of their release from prison. This may include things like wearing an ankle tag or not using drugs.

A probation officer said: “The report makes it clear that we are overworked. And the situation will only get worse as there are more people serving time in the community.”

“We don’t have enough numbers and we have no idea how the government is going to do this so that no one is put at risk. Because something bad is going to happen, someone who is dangerous and not being watched is going to kill someone,” the parole officer added.

The NAO says part of the problem is a shortage of about 2,200 full-time probation officers; the government expects this number to be reduced to around 1,500 by September this year.

The watchdog also says that although Serco, the security contractor that manages the tagging system on behalf of the government, met a target of 95% timeliness for tag-deployment visits, it was “successful in placing tags on only 62% of the people it visited in two attempts.”

In a statement, Serco told the BBC it had made “significant improvements”, had “tagged a record number of people” and had “consistently” met key contract measures, as the Ministry of Justice and NAO report acknowledged.

He added that labeling efforts “are contingent on us receiving accurate information” from relevant authorities and partners.

“We strive to provide tags to everyone who is required to do so. Where we are unable to do so for reasons beyond our control, we report these violations to the appropriate authorities.”

NAO calls on the government to improve data quality and management of the monitoring system.

He added that the government was working with Serco to improve performance and reduce the backlog of installing labels.

Ministers estimate an additional 22,000 people will need to be tagged a year from 2027.

“The government needs to improve the resilience and efficiency of the service, otherwise expanding electronic monitoring could lead to a waste of public money and put public safety at risk,” said Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee.

The Ministry of Justice said the government inherited “a failed labeling system with record backlogs.”

“As this report shows, we have worked hard to fix this and install rates have increased by almost 50% since 2024,” he said.

“This is in addition to our record £700 million investment in probation, including the recruitment of 2,300 trainee probation officers in the last two years and a further 1,300 this year – ensuring the Probation Service has the resources it needs to keep dangerous offenders under closer supervision than ever before.”