Question
A Lords Committee criticised the Ministry of Justice under the previous Government for reappointing the contractors after repeated failures. Serco had an issue with finding a tag small enough for the elderly mother of my constituent, which delayed her release over Christmas. What steps are the Government taking to ensure that contractors manage to tag all prisoners before they leave prison?
Answer
I am sorry to hear about that particular case. There are circumstances where there are physical challenges to fitting a tag—for example, because of a medical reason such as limb loss or swelling. It is important that the vast majority of people who should have tags do have tags, and we need to make sure that happens. The business-as-usual position is to tag an individual who is due to be tagged once they are in their accommodation, but we are trialling, have piloted and will be looking to roll out tagging at the prison as quickly as possible.14% vibes
Verdict: AMBER (64/100)
The reply addresses the single question about what the Government is doing on tagging before release. It explains the current process, where tagging takes place once a person is in their accommodation, and describes a pre-release tagging trial at a named-type prison with a commitment to roll it out as quickly as possible. It does not name the prison or give a timetable, so the asker would probably need to follow up for specific dates or locations before treating the question as fully resolved.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| What is the Government doing to ensure that electronic monitoring contractors fit tags to all prisoners before they leave prison? | Addressed | Direct | The reply describes the current business-as-usual process (tagging once an individual is in their accommodation), explains the physical exceptions to tagging, and names a concrete pre-release tagging trial or pilot at a prison with a commitment to roll it out as quickly as possible, which together answer what the Government is doing about tagging before release. The reply does not name the prison or give a timetable, and it describes the pilot as both trialled and piloted, so it is not fully precise. |