Question
I welcome the fact that the Government are experimenting with a scheme of tagging prisoners at the point of release, but a question then arises. Those of them who do not have an address to go to and who choose to remove the tag are going to be very difficult to find. Is there a solution to that?
Answer
The right hon. Gentleman asks a typically thoughtful question. Obviously, all these matters are kept under review. We work very closely with the Probation Service, which uses a range of measures to manage offenders once they are released into the community, to both support them to reintegrate and to ensure that the public are safe, and we also work very closely with the police on that. When an offender does find settled accommodation, a tag can then be put on as part of their licence conditions, but where there are concerns, the recall option remains available.
Verdict: AMBER (28/100)
The reply covers the general arrangements: joint working with probation and the police, tags fitted only once settled accommodation is found, and recall if there are concerns. It does not explain how released prisoners without a fixed address, or those who remove their tags, would be located, which was the core of the question. The answer is therefore partial and largely general, and the person asking would likely need to follow up for specifics.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Is there a solution to the difficulty of locating released prisoners who have no address to go to and who remove their tags? | Partially Addressed | Hedged | The reply describes general joint working with probation and police and says tags are only fitted once settled accommodation is found, with recall available if there are concerns. It never offers a way to locate released prisoners who have no address or who remove their tags, so the actual question of a solution is left largely unanswered. |